Christmas 2006

We had a great holiday this year. Though I missed not seeing dad & ev's family, it was really nice having the time to relax at home. Something I realize we haven't done - ever! Saturday we didn't leave the house. Basically we wore jammies all day & didn't shower until evening. We played, watched TV - Boston Pops xmas show, click clack moo, etc. and played. For Christmas Eve we went to Alan's cousins and had a very nice time. Shara loved Erica's piano playing and was the best audience - gave her big "yea!!"s and danced and sang.

Christmas day we went over to Oma & Jidor's. We had a very relaxing breakfast that didn't end until about 10 AM. Shara played with Cherios at the table while I looked through a cookbook. Then she went downstairs to watch tv - background while she played, and I exercised upstairs. I then went down because I thought she'd have fun exercising with me and we did have fun, but not sure I'd call what she did exercise - mostly ran around and jumped on me. I got good exercise!

Shara's getting so grown-up. She makes up her hors'devors plate herself and sits so nice and is so neat. When it came time for the presents, I wanted her to be able to take her time opening because it looked like she'd have no interest in opening one after the other, but wanted to play as soon as she opened one. Makes sense - why get something and not be able to really check it out, so we had a relaxing present opening. She did get a lot, but all nice things that she'll enjoy playing with. Not a lot of little chache things that will end up in a box. Dinner was fine but Shara didn't eat hardly anything. I think she was holding off for dessert, and she did have some. We left at a reasonable time and she got to sleep about her normal time, which was the goal. The night before she didn't sleep until after 9.

She's still talking about Santa, but it seems like we're back to the normal schedule, which is nice so I'm not talking too much anymore about going to Bubbe's this weekend. Just want a couple days of normal routine!

Catching up on pics - again

Come & Get them Here!

December Update

This month has had so much in it that I've been so busy and haven't had time to blog. I haven't even uploaded my photos from early this month. We went to Edaville with Maggie, John, & Hannah - had a great time. Probably would have been happy to stay longer, but it was good. Shara went on the carousel - rode a horse! She had a great time looking at all the lights and riding the train. We do need to get her a train table, but we're hardly home for her to play with the toys we already have. After we had dinner at Lorenzos in Middleboro. It was ok - food-wise, but it was a fun atmosphere for kids. Reminded me of the italian restaurants I grew up eating at. Very family friendly.

Shara's teeth have really been bothering her. She has been the most miserable little person! She started yelling and screaming on the rides home and I finally figured out that it was because of her molars. She has 2 coming in but one is worse. I put on the oragel and her attitude completely changed. I know it's not all the molars - she's also big into testing now, but that is a little different that screaming, biting, hitting, throwing, etc.

Yesterday we were listening to Laurie Berkner's Buzz Buzz cd and were singing to She'll be coming round the mountain. There's the line, "and we'll all go out to greet her when she comes". Shara thought it was "we'll all go out to eat". She's my daughter!

We've been lighting the Hanukkah candles each night, decorating cookies, watching mommy do a lot of baking and generally having a good time. Shara went down the big twisty slide and has been rather adventurous at the playgrounds lately.

She also enjoyed the potato gnocci from Monica's in the North End - $9! I hope she liked them. I started by giving her a couple but she kept asking for more and more. I thought that was great - but knew that if she wasn't hungry there could be a lot just sitting on her plate, 1/2 eaten. Not that I wouldn't have eaten those, but she doesn't like me picking off her plate - sometimes but it depends on her mood and I'd have had to wait until she was done and they were cold. Boy, I sound like just as much a kid as she does!

We'll have to go pick her up now.

Lights!

We've had a nice week of light hunting on the way home from school. Shara & I both love the Christmas lights and now I have someone to get excited with me about them. Alan isn't the type to really get into the whole festive atmosphere. Shara seems to know about Santa, at least what he looks like, but I don't think she understands who he is, which is fine because we're not going to promote the holiday too much in our own house.

She's been talking a lot - cute toddler phrase, "I want to drink baby" - she wants to give baby her bottle or she also says, "drink me" as opposed to "feed me" when she wants me to hold her cup to her for a drink. Oh yes, she's been playing baby Shara a bit lately. I think it's just play and not a need to regress. I need to write down other things she says because I can't think of others now.

Yesterday we went to Oma & Jidor's for supper and on the way home took a detour through the Rockery to see the lights. Shara was in quite a mood - didn't want to go home, then when we got home, wanted to watch a movie and not go to sleep. Mind you, this was 8:30 at night. I figured out the movie was because I told Alan we had a movie to watch that needed to be returned and she apparently liked that idea. She did get so upset about having to go to sleep she threw-up all the great goulash & Boston Cream Pie from Oma's. That was disappointing, but it was a quick cleanup and at this point we're pretty good at handling a puke or 2 from a bout of crying. After relaxing together in her chair, she asked if I could read a short story, which we did, and then I got her to go to sleep when I said I wanted her to have enough energy to enjoy the parade tomorrow. She nodded her head, got up and went into bed. I wasn't off the hook for laying down with her until she fell asleep though.

Thanksgiving 2006

I'm having such a hard time blogging these days. Not only because we've been so busy, but there just isn't anything remarkable. We've been having a lot of fun lately - going to the playground (Shara went on the really big, twisty slide all by herself), going out to eat (she's great in a restaurant), going to the market (shopped all morning to get food for Thanksgiving and Shara kept herself busy playing with peppers and helping put the produce in bags, all while driving her "car"). We haven't had too many meltdowns - or maybe we have them and we're getting really good at stopping them quickly. She's getting a lot taller - finally got rid of a couple pair of leggings that were 12-18 month. While cooking these days, Shara would rather cook in her own kitchen or sit in her highchair and just watch, rather than help (was going to have her help make pizza last week), but she did crush up cracker crumbs with me at the counter for a casserole and had fun. When we go down the stairs in the morning to leave, a couple of times she's said, "it's midnight" and I finally put it together - going down the stairs, Cinderella leaving the ball... She still loves Cinderella, but isn't obsessed with watching the movie all the time. She also knows that the holidays are here and understands about presents & wish lists. She remembered a toy that she wanted a month ago, that I told her to put on her list and when people ask what you want, we'll tell them.

So, thanksgiving. Shara & mommy went to the turkey farm to get our turkey. It was so good I don't know if it was the turkey or the recipe (cooked perfectly). Nothing really remarkable happened. I had the most fun getting Shara dressed while watching the parade. She was enthralled! Loved the dancing and music and we recorded it so we were able to watch it later as well. We learned about kick lines and musicals and I really think that Shara is going to end up with dance lessons, rather than music.

The Albany contingent was very late due to the crummy weather but they got her and we all had fun eating and visiting. Liz is going to have her external ? taken out this week and then 6 more weeks in the chair. She's not taking any pain killers, but that doesn't mean that she isn't in pain ever. Unfortunately a crutch fell on her leg as they were getting ready to leave and the goodbyes were tearful. Hopefully the pain didn't last too long, but these are the kind of things that will hopefully go away after that thing comes out. Shara had fun getting rides with Liz on the wheelchair and visiting with her cousins. She ate dinner in between Liz & Samantha, just like a big girl. Mommy & Daddy weren't even in arms range! Samantha helped stuff sweet potato into the orange cups and made pretty flower designs with the pecans & marshmallow topping. Chris happily stayed until after dinner, though she was threatening to leave before to go to New Hampshire for a weekend getaway.

Bubbe & Papa stayed until Saturday afternoon and we all had a good time together. We visited the Mansfield Library and looked at knitting books and got shara a few more new reads. Then we had lunch at Fresh Catch - Shara really liked the clam chowder. Then we were going to go to a playground but Shara fell asleep on-route and we headed south to Michaels craft store and Bubbe & Mommy did a little shopping while Shara, daddy & papa slept in the car. We went home, dropped off papa & daddy and Bubbe & Shara went to the playground. Then we had supper, played a little and mommy layed down with Shara for about 45 minutes before daddy came in to relieve, causing much crying and shara finally went to sleep around 8:45, as usual for days when she has a nap. But this night she woke up crying several times until mommy took her into mommy & daddy's bed because brutus was meowing & pawing at the door and no one could get back to sleep. Daddy wanted to try the relief effort again last night, but it wasn't needed because we skipped the nap, wore her out and she went to sleep by 7:30 and is still asleep now.

Yesterday morning we went to Good Days for brunch and all was well (Shara refused the highchair & opted for a booster seat, which actually worked out perfectly), but when we got in the car pitched such a fit after I strapped her into the carseat that I thought she was in pain. Turned out she just wanted to sit next to mommy. I told her later that she needed to use words to let us know what she wants and not to scream and cry (and almost throw up). Then we went to the Village Toy Store so bubbe could get the baby outfit they had there (big selection) and on the way out Shara tells me, "I want mommy to sit next to me". Big girl! Bubbe & Papa left & Shara & mommy watched more of the parade, had light edamame & pot sticker lunch & played a lot and had a lot of fun. Something we don't get to do ofter - always running around or mommy doing productive things. Then we all went to the playground and had more fun. Shara lightly fell off the swing as she decided to get off before mommy had a chance to get her off. She was almost stopped and this was just a scare, but then we showed her how to get off herself and that was a really good thing. After we went home, read a little, heated up supper, ate, read some more, watched a little Cailou, read more and went to bed in 15 minutes!

My sensitive little girl

Last week at school when I was getting ready to leave, Shara stood up from the table and knocked into a little girl and the little girl fell over. It was a complete accident, but I asked Shara if she should say she was sorry to Emily. shara very quietly said sorry, but to me. I said to shara I think you need to tell Emily. Shara turned to Emily and said a very quiet, "sorry". Then I looked down and Shara was still looking down. I picked her up and asked if she was ok because her lip was quivering. She started to cry and I realized she was really feeling bad about the situation. We got duck and Shara felt better, but we still had a bad drop-off. When I picked her up she was fine.

This past weekend was Hannah's 3rd birthday party. We all had a good time - Shara's still talking about it. They had it in a hall at their church. It was good because the kids could run around, and they did. At the end of the organized part of the party, they had races back and forth across the hall. On one of the later races, Hannah accidentally knocked Shara down. Everyone was fine, but again, Shara's lip started quivering. She was ok after a few minutes.

Then last night, she was jumping on her bed - her new fun thing to scare mommy & daddy with. I then sat her down and reminded her about Katie's cast and her broken arm and what that was all about. She got a really scared look in her eye and I should I just stopped talking and left her scared about jumping on the bed, but no, mommy had to say, "it's ok, but that's why I want you to be careful." because she immediately got up and started jumping again!

Pictures! - 2 months worth

This is only from my camera, which I'm not too happy about. Many were blurry and I don't know why. We have a few others that need to be uploaded from our other camera and we'll get to them eventually.
Come & Get them Here!

Second Halloween

Shara's second Halloween was nothing at all like her first. This time it was so much fun for all of us, except Alan who was sick. I picked Shara up from school and we had dinner. While eating the doorbell rang and the fun began. I gave out the candy to our first trick-or-treaters and the questions began as well. Who was that? What they doin'? Where they goin'? We finished dinner and got on our wings and off we went. I took Shara around and the first leg of our trip was all uppie, uppie. We visited Anne Marie and a couple other neighbors, and then we saw Nemo & a princess, all walking, so Shara felt it was safe to get down and walk herself. She was great - held my hand, acted excited about seeing the kids and all the activity and being a part of it. I couldn't believe the candy our neighbors gave out - big candy bars, not the little miniatures we gave. Shara got a good stash and we went home after she heard some music she thought was scary. It was the Adams' Family theme, but to her it was scary. It was also dark and the packs of kids were in pockets, so the street seemed deserted at times. We went home and Shara picked her candy to eat - M & M's. She then wanted to go back out! And we did. This time we followed the other scary music down the street and this was really scary stuff. They had a green head projected on the front of their garage and it was talking some weird stuff and occasionally it would burn up. Looked really familiar but I have no idea what it was from. We decided to go home and call it a night. I thought it would give her nightmares, but she was fine. It really brought back memories of when I was a kid and it should be even more fun when she gets into picking her costume and helping put it together.

Can't Shake this Cold

Shara's sleeping now after a really good and busy morning, but we're sure it's because she's sick and not because she's just tired. Her nose has been running on and off for days, as all the other kids at her school. We've all had this cough for days, though she hasn't coughed the past few. No fever, but her nose hurts and she's obviously not very happy. Hopefully a good morning rest will get her back in shape.

Olives

Last week we were having supper and shara tried olives, again. This time she really liked them and ate all the ones we had given her. She asked for more and Alan went and got the cutting board and cut her up some more olives. I said to him that Shara had a lot of other really good food on her plate too. After she finished her olives, she turned to alan and barely whispered to him, "daddy, more olives". She didn't want me to hear her asking for them!

Harvest Festival at School

Last night we went to the Harvest Festival at Shara's school. It was a fun night. Something different for Shara and us as well. Oma & Jidor joined us and got to meet Shara's teachers and see her school. Shara visited with her friends and got to look at the different classrooms. I said to Alan as we were leaving, "this is the first of many more".

Apple Picking, Visiting Liz, Freaky Night

We did go apple picking in Wrentham and had a nice time. We took a horse-drawn hayride around the orchard, had some ice cream, watched apples being polished and brought down a conveyor to be bagged, and got some apples to have at home. It was a beautiful day and Shara really liked watching the apples go down the belt.

Sunday we went to Uma & Jidor's for daddy's birthday supper. On the way Shara fell asleep and woke up coughing and coughed so hard that she threw up in the blanket that was covering baby, who was on her lap. We were actually in the CVS parking lot getting medicine for her and Alan. She didn't get anything on her, which was great. We gave her a couple of decongestant/cough strips, safe for infants, and it worked rather quickly. She continued to cough for the next week but it's finally clearing up and we haven't given her anything for it in the past few days. Dinner was nice. Shara had fun passing around plates to all and fixing her own plate of vegetables & crackers. We mostly just relaxed inside - Shara did a puzzle with Jidor and she really liked the brownies that Jidor made and was very tired by the time we left, but didn't fall asleep in the car.

The next day was a mommy & Shara day. We got dressed, had breakfast and went to the outlets for shoes. Shara seemed very excited about getting new shoes and getting her foot measured but when we got there and got a salesperson to measure her foot she changed her mind so mommy finally got her foot measured - 6 1/2 medium, but when we tried on the one shoe she liked, in her size, it didn't fit and she didn't want to try on any others. She needed to push her stroller - wouldn't walk or sit in the stroller, as we went to the bathrooms, because I really had to go and wasn't in a very good mood because of it. When we got there we went into the handicap stall and I told her several times not to touch, but when she still didn't listen after going for the little trash can in the stall, I hit her hand away. I'm not one to slap, but on further reflection (trying to calm my guilt) I realized that it was the correct thing to do. It did shock her a little, but she hardly cared and still had the devilish look in her eyes, but didn't really touch anything else - this time she stopped when I told her to and didn't push farther.

More coming later...
It's later - we went to Whole Foods to do some shopping and have lunch. Let me tell you, it's hard to go around a salad bar holding a tray and a Shara, but I did it. We got in line and as soon as I put Shara and the tray down, Shara was off like a shot - down the aisle, with me running after her. I got her, paid and we went to the cafe to eat and she was much better. We actually had a nice lunch together and finished with a little shopping - Shara in the front seat of the cart. She crashed on the way home and slept for about 2 hours while I got the apple pie filling made.

This past weekend we went to visit Jill & Liz at the school. We met them, Graham & his parents for lunch at Judie's in Amherst. The restaurant didn't open until 11:30 and we had the great fortune to be across from the fire station during their open house. Smoky the Bear was walking around, as were firemen in their uniforms, climbing high in the air and other fun things. We got seated at the restaurant and had lunch, but not much visiting time. Great food, though Shara was really hungry and I didn't think that it would take so long to get food, so we left everything in the car. Alan took a sprint there and got it all and Shara ended up having a feast. Actually we all did. After lunch we met Liz, Jill & Graham at the Eric Carle Museum. That was really cool and there we had a better chance to visit. The way home was filled with fun things like Shara playing with her "friends" - the mommies - ducky & giraffe left to go to work and the babies - bella & pooh cried while Shara & I comforted them by saying stuff like, "that's ok baby, your mommy will be back". She also had a fun time pretending to order pizza on the phone and called liz. She was mimicking me and my conversation (pretend) with Liz, but just said a few words for my many. It was really cute.

The other night she woke up so upset that I thought she was having a seizure or something. She couldn't talk she was so scared - just babbled like she was speaking in tongues. I ended up reading a book, at her request and she settled down.

She's so independent now. Just today got out of bed and opened her door and came down the hall, into the kitchen to say good morning. This was a first. She wanted to do everything herself - put her jacket on, walk down the stairs holding her "suitcase" full of friends to bring to school, climb up into the car, hang up her jacket, etc. Most of these things she does anyway, but all of them today. She also has started eating with her fork more and generally acting more grown up. It's really nice. Especially when she doesn't get frustrated too quickly and gives us time to figure out what she's asking or trying to say!

Really getting grown up

Everyone said, "they grow up so fast", and so far she's been growing up and nothing I hadn't expected, but what recently surprised me is how much she's grown up in the past few weeks. She's a little girl now, and certainly with a mind of her own. She's also so funny. The other night we were getting ready for bed and I had to change her sheets so her blanket was on the floor. She puts it into a big pile and starts saying, "ready... ready... one two three five go!" and jumps into the blanket. She did that several times before spending 10 minutes adjusting her smaller blankie on the bed. She wasn't even done with what she had planned for the blankie because she pitched a fit when we told her it was time to hear a story.

Bye bye's at school have been very good again. She uses Jake as her bye bye buddy and yesterday Tenley came along too. The three held hands while walking me to the door. Then they shut the door and blow me kisses through the window. At dinner the other night I was telling Alan that Shara's teacher mentioned that Shara & Jake were great friends. She can do stuff to him and he's so gentle with her whereas other kids he's not so gentle with. Shara then says, "Jake's my sister!". Very cute.

Yesterday after school Shara & I went to White's Pastry to get some cake for daddy's birthday. We're going to Uma & Jidor's tonight for supper & cake, but I wanted to have a family happy birthday song & candles. We picked out a slice of chocolate strawberry cake, an Elmo cupcake and a sprinkle cookie. She ate almost the whole cupcake. The cookie has been put off for probably tomorrow because it's one thing to buy it another to eat it and we'll be having cake again tonight. This time the cake will come after dinner. We had to start with dessert yesterday because Alan & I were going out to dinner and we didn't have time. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do! Way too many sweets for her yesterday - ice cream, a munchkin & french toast sticks w/ syrup at school... Today we're going apple picking before heading to Uma & Jidors. Monday mommy & Shara have a whole day alone. First time in a long time and I plan on going shoe shopping with her. She needs to pick out her own shoes because she doesn't like anything I get her and those sandals aren't going to be too warm in the winter.

King Richard's Faire

We all went today to the Faire and Auntie Chris was able to goin us. Shara now calls Chris Auntie Chris, not just Chris. We got there around 11:30 and the first thing we did was walk around a little to get the lay of the land. Shara saw these swings that looked like ships and she wanted to go on them. We were skeptical that she'd go on but she did and really liked it. Then I realized how much she loves the swings at school and then wasn't so surprised. Then there were just too many things to do and it was very hard to decide what to do next so we scoped out the food while hanging around a musical stage. Shara didn't want to eat, just listen to the music so we separated - Shara w/ me, Chris & Alan off to get their own stuff and we were going to meet back at the tables. I couldn't find anywhere to sit so Shara & I took our Thai combo meal and headed to the dance stage to watch the gypsies. They were really funny and the two of us had a good time nibbling (her more than me, I just ate) and listening & watching the antics. Also tried to keep a look out for Alan & Chris but sometimes you just have to let things happen and enjoy what you're doing. Turns out Alan's sausage took a really long time and when he got it, found us right away. Chris too. So we all finished eating and watching the show, then hung out by the stage. Shara wanted to go up on the stage with other kids who were fooling around up there so we did. Then got down just in time for the other kids to get yelled at.

Much of the rest of the day is fuzzy - we went to the pony rides and Shara tried 2x to get on but chickened out each time. She did get to pet one of them. We then saw some jousting, tiger cubs, a huge snake, and really neat dragon puppets that move with a remote trigger. I have to get one of those. We also enjoyed the bagpipes and a hurdy-gurdy. The lady playing it was very nice and played some kids songs for Shara, who danced around and around. We also had fun playing drums at a shop - shara had a little too much fun playing with Chris' mallet and using mommy as an imuscent (instrument).

The day was a little hard for Shara - she was on the edge of crankyness most of the day because the excitment all started just when she would normally be talking her nap. She was in my arms most of the day and when we stood in a very long line for apple crisp she was fine. After we got it she became little bossy crankster. She wanted to sit down to eat the crisp, not eat it while walking around, even though I have her her own utensil. So we tried to find a place to sit - there were no tables so we found a bench. That was almost acceptable, so she started eating some of the ice cream. Then she wanted to do it herself - meaning hold the whole plate on her lap. I was holding it in front of her, letting her do it all herself, but she still pitched a fit. We had to leave and went to find Chris who was over watching the birds of prey. I finished the whole thing and Shara was fine as soon as we started leaving to go to Chris. She didn't really want the crisp at all. It was a good show - the birds flew around and there was a horse so Shara was very happy.

The only thing that scared Shara were a couple of men dressed in what looked like Japanese armour with bones on the face. They were supposed to look scary and they did. I don't think there was any major damage to her psyche but she did mention it again while we were doing our recap of the day. But she wasn't even scared of the living gargoyle. I think Halloween will be fine.

Rosh Hashanah

This past weekend we went to Bubbe's for Rosh Hashanah. We had a great time up until the end. We came in Friday evening, picking Liz up on the way. We got a personal tour of Hampshire College and Shara was in her glory with her big cousin.

She also had fun in the car with Liz on the way back, but spent most of her time enraptured with Cinderella. Shara had a bar and put the sticky wrapper on her seat. Liz said, "I'll throw that away." Shara wanted to keep it, but Liz made a face and through it out. Shara was so shocked she didn't say anything. I thought that was great! We dropped Liz off at her home and Bella scared Shara so she stayed far away and we got to see the new bathroom (beautiful).

Then on to Bubbe's for supper. Shara was rather tired, but ate her chicken soup with alkes, broccoli and chicken. She also really liked the apples dipped in honey and we had that for supper the next night too. She did sleep in her pack & play the whole night, but Alan had to play hardball to get her to sleep.

The next morning we ate breakfast, got dressed, shara had the shampoo washed out of her hair by the joint efforts of bubbe & mommy over the kitchen sink - she didn't like it too much. We then went to shul and visited a bit, then got pickles at Gershons. It was good to see the place and I wanted to be sure Shara knows of it and looks forward to a yearly or so pilgrimage. We then hung out at bubbes - after a good lunch shara did take a nap on the bed in the office, and waited for Jill to come over. The girls weren't going to get there until close to 5, but Jill got there close to 5 and the kids closer to 6. Dinner was the best and Shara ate chopped liver, sweet & sour fish, kasha & gemelli, apples & honey, and lots & lots of sweet & sour meatballs. She also wasn't too into dessert. She did have so much fun with Liz & Samantha. They were all doing ballet - showing shara how to do first position and a pliet, then stretching exercises. Then Shara & Liz layed down on the couch and that was very cute.

Breakfast the next morning was marred by Liz and a car accident. We're getting updates on her ankle. Liz is a tough girl and is in great shape, but it's going to take all her strengh to get through what could be a long recovery. She's so into rock climbing and dance and just starting school that it will be hard for her physically but mostly mentally. I hope she realizes just how strong she can be and how many people love and support her. We're going to visit her this coming weekend and try to cheer her up.

Folk Festival

We went to the Soule Farmstead Folk Festival and had a great time. Shara enjoyed the trick horses from a great distance, ate popcorn for the first time, boogied to fun music, and had a diaper change in the sheep pasture (with much protesting). She fell asleep on our way to supper at Good Days, but we woke her up, asked her if she wanted to eat in the restaurant, said yes, and had a great time at dinner.

Some of Shara's catch phrases include:
Be right back
Be right back - going for a diaper change
Oh neat
That's special
Oh man!
bye bye, see ya!

Getting better all the time

I don't know how long we have to do this, but for 2 nights, Shara's been sleeping through the night. It's because the cats are now sleeping in our bedroom. We moved in a litter box, some food & water. Generally they (Brutus) don't make a big ruccus and we aren't loosing that much sleep, but Shara isn't woken by Brut anymore. She's still having trouble getting to sleep. It's hit or miss when I put her down. Sometimes she's out quick, other times she wants to play.

We are also going through a big power struggle with her over several things. Alan played hardball the other night and let her cry and cry for mommy, while he was putting her to bed, and didn't give in by taking her to me or calling me for help. Eventually she settled down. I don't have the stomach for it! Last night during tooth brushing, she was really really tired, she wasn't cooperating and took off with the toothbrush down the hall. I grabbed her and carried her back to the bathroom, she through the toothbrush, I had the other one and held her down while sitting on the toilet to at least get one tooth. This was really to show who's boss. I didn't want to give in because I knew a little thing like that could have had bad results. I'm not at all strick, but when it comes to safety & hygene, I do push because that's where I choose to pick my battles.

Last night she started calling out for mommy at about 2 PM. Not screaming, but yelling. Then stopped, then a little while later started calling again. At about 3:30, I guess, I went in and she was sitting up in bed, holding ducky. I layed her down on her pillow and she turned in this biggest chatterbox. She was going to get up and start her day. I did manage to get her to sleep by laying down with her and sleeping myself.

This week we had a near tragedy. Ducky went missing for almost 24 hours. When I picked Shara up from school on Wednesday, we spent 45 minutes looking for duck. Everyone was so helpful - some even stayed late searching. We looked in the sandbox, trash, laundry, etc. but no ducky. She turned up the next day stuffed in some little box on the toddler side.

So she's apparently dealing with lots of change in her own way. She's in the two's room officially - her cubby's there and we go to that side in the morning to put her stuff away before going to the toddler side with everyone for breakfast, Jake, her good friend she transitioned with to toddlers came back from his summer leave, she's talking so much more and growing and it's a lot to deal with. I wouldn't want to go through it again! We just have to figure out how to make it as easy as possible for her.

We're going out to supper tonight. Uma & Jidor get to put Shara to sleep. This will be the first time in a really long time, so maybe they can break some type of habit and she'll get to sleep easily. Good luck to them! They're thanking us for letting them sit with her, and she is so much fun, but we'll see how bedtime goes and if they'll thank us when we get home.

Bad morning, not much sleep

this morning - had to hand off shara as the tears of tired & frustration came, then went and started supper prep!

sleep troubles

Nothing super exciting has been happening lately. Shara is still haveing trouble sleeping. I've been wondering if these are night terrors and she's been scared to go to sleep at night. She's back to not liking baths again and I don't know where that came from.

This past weekend we went ot the cape for a timeshare shpiel. Shara did great. On sunday she went to home depot with daddy while I went to the market alone. I got home and we all had lunch. Shara was supposed to take a nap but that didn't happen as planned so we spent an hour or so fussing and arguing until I took her for a walk where shse ended up falling asleep a few minutes into the ride.

She then got to play in her newly cleaned sandbox and had a lot of supper - really loved the grilled pork with honey, herbes de provence marinade. I also made asparagus, peach and fresh figs roasted w/ balsamic vinegar. Shara wouldn't try the asparagus, no big surprise, nor the figs. We had a funny time with that. She said she wouldn't and I keep asking with lots of pleases and chest rubbing (sign for please) and we got really silly.

Pictures!

Didn't take as many as we did last summer, but here they are!

Wow - vacation catch-up

OK, lets see... Day 2 - as mentioned, we went to the mall and got sweatshirts and ate out at Ben's Kosher Deli & Emporium. Shara loved the salami & eggs and ate almost the whole serving. The cole slaw and pickles were also a hit - just like Gershon's. I also liked my hot turkey sandwich w/ mashed potatoes & gravy and Alan had an interesting burger with salami on it. After lunch we got a couple bagels for breakfast the next morning and then Shara fell asleep in the car so we stopped at the market & craft store. Went back to the hotel and had a very light supper at the breakfast area in the hotel lobby. Shara went to sleep very well in her pack & play but ended up sleeping with us each night.

The next day we went to the beach because that seemed to be the thing to do. We took a walk to the lighthouse and had the good fortune of hearing a bag pipe for much of the walk. There was a wedding at the lighthouse and we got to see some of it. Shara really loved the bag pipe. We then went back to the car and headed over to the playground at the main beach area. We were the only ones there and were surprised when many other kids showed up because it was really dreary out. It wasn't raining though. After playing on the steps and taking a couple trips down the slide we headed out to the North Fork to have lunch at the Lobster Roll. I didn't realize that it was a sit down restaurant and we all looked like we just came from a day at the beach. Shara was tired and hungry so wasn't in the best mood. Alan took her outside to play in this great area where they had a wooden train, firetruck and little ride-on tractors. I had a shrimp cake sandwich and got the onion rings, which were almost worth the cost. Alan had fish & chips and Shara had macaroni & cheese (big surprise). The chowder wasn't worth eating, but we had an enjoyable meal and after headed to the great farm stand that we found last year. They moved everything around but it was still all there and we even had the treat of a sandbox to play in, goat, horses, chickens and roosters to look at and beautiful flowers to see. The roasted corn was also nice and I was very glad I saw someone get a few ears to go and did the same for us for supper, again at the hotel breakfast area. It was hard to leave, but leave we did and Shara did get a little sleep on the way back to the hotel. Nothing eventful that evening, but I think that night I ended up falling asleep with Shara.

The next day was a very nice visit with the Rotolo's. We had wanted to go to the seafood festival, but it rained really badly on and off all day and it was a great decision not to go. In the morning we took a trip back to the North fork to see the field of sunflowers. We didn't see it because they had recently mowed the field. But not to worry because we went to a famous farm stand and got a strawberry pie and lovely flowers to bring over to the Rotolo's. Also got some cookies which were really good. On the way back I thought we would need lunch but it was a little early and Shara wasn't interested. We stopped at the Pita House. I got a Gyro, Alan got a chicken kabob and we got Turkish Cigars, which were phyllo filled with pastrami & feta cheese, in case Shara changed her mind, which she did. We ended up eating in the car and Shara loved my Gyro and the tomatoes.

It took Shara several minutes to warm up at the Rotolo's, but Nina gave us a whirlwind tour of their home, including her beautiful jewelry box. Shara eventually let me put her down and we spent the rest of the day talking, playing and eating. It was really interesting seeing the difference between Shara and Sophia. Sophia is so physical - climbing and jumping all around, where Shara is still working on her jumping. Having a big sister makes a difference. It was so nice being able to visit and it's times like these that make you realize how nice it would be to live closer to each other, especially with the kids.

The next day we drove home. It rained on and off for the day, but not really heavy. We decided to skip the ferry both ways since the cost was much higher than it used to be and the time isn't at all a savings. We also weren't travelling during rush hour, but there always seems to be traffic around the city. We stopped in New Haven for lunch, looking for Frank Pepe's Pizza, but it didn't open until 4PM. We settled for a tavern type place which had award winning wings. I had the buffalo chicken sandwich and it was good, but basically Franks. Shara didn't like her quesadilla at all and had a bar in the car. It had canned green chilis and they were very vinegary. Alan had an ok roast beef wrap.

We got home and the kids were still fighting. A couple days before we left, there was an apparently sick fox sleeping near the back door. Brutus laid claim and the other cats were beaten a little for their curiosity. Until just the other day, they were still hissing and mewling at each other - just Brutus & George. Mause is a lover, not a fighter and quickly made up with Brut. Shara was still freaked out about the whole thing and finally seems to be ok and forgetting about it. It was sad since she was so jumpy and scared in her own house. We thought it would be done with by the time we got back, but it took this long to work itself out. Hopefully sleeping will get better and better. Last night she went to sleep very fast, but I think we're going to have to stay in her room until she falls asleep for quite a while. She's going through a phase and this is part of the sleep time ritual now. She only woke up once last night and I had to stay in her room while she went back to sleep. That meant I feel asleep for 2 hours on her floor and woke with by arm asleep at 4AM! Still, we did get to watch a movie last night and she didn't have a 10:30 PM wakening as has been the case recently.

Tonight we're going out to supper with Alan's parents for their anniversary to the Cheesecake Factory. Hope it will be fun. Yesterday Shara was in a mood and we had a bad afternoon - no nap & wouldn't take a bath either. I think that was because she thought I was going to pull of her bandaid. Late afternoon things were fine.

Summer LI Vacation - Day 1

Well hopefully today won't be the way the vacation is going to be. Shara wasn't too pleasant, but neither was I. The day before last, Brutus discovered a fox (not too good looking) at our back door - the one near the bar. It was curled up and Brutus was very interested. The other cats got interested too and apparently fur started to fly. Shara & I were up stairs but still able to hear the commotion. It sounded awful - meuling and shrieking - scarry and Shara started screaming. We went into her room and she quieted down. Shara woke up about 10:30 and finally went back to sleep around 11:30. She was really scared about the cats. The next day she talked about noisy at home but had a good day at school. Not a good drop-off, but that's now normal. She went to play with Jaime and I left without our normal bye bye. It was better than the first 2 tries with her crying that she wanted to go too.

Yesterday, after a 3+ hour nap at school, Shara was still tired. When we got home, we relaxed with a little Phantom Gourmet and ate some cheese while we waited for daddy to get through the route 24 backup after a sewage tanker overturned. He sat in traffic for 2 1/2 hours on the highway. We had supper - Shara on my lap because she was still a little freaked out and the cats weren't acting nice to each other. She did get to sleep, but was delayed an extra 1/2 hour after Brutus & George went at it. She then woke at about midnight, just when I was starting to fall asleep. I ended up sleeping with her and left in the morning. Through the night, the cats fought and each time I'd wake, look over at Shara and she'd open her eyes and look at me. She woke at about 7:3o AM to the cats yelling and she woke up screaming. I ran in and she was fine, but she wanted to be held almost all morning. Finally she warmed up to Brutus again, but we were looking forward to a night without them.

The trip here wasn't too exciting. We watched Cinderella & Pooh. Read some books & listened to some music. Shara ended up sleeping for about 1 1/2 hours when we hit traffic around the city. I also started the ride with her in the back and was even able to get some knitting done. It doesn't sound like there was any trouble but everything was a struggle. We stopped at a rest stop and did a diaper change, but then she wanted to go inside and then take a stroller walk and she was really crying about it. Then didn't want to get in her seat, etc. Then we stopped for lunch at Superduper Wienie and she had a couple fries and a chicken nugget or 2. At first she didn't want to sit at the picnic tables but wanted to sit outside. Then she didn't want to sit at all, then when Alan came with the food she was fine. When she was finished she started kicking me. I told her to stop, that it was hurting me. She kept kicking. I told her if she continued, I wouldn't sit next to her anymore and go to the other side of the table. She kept kicking, but just close enough to make me pay attention. Then when we left she cried that she wanted pooh and got upset that I didn't know if she wanted the new pooh coloring thing, the pooh book, or the pooh movie. Then she kept getting upset at most things. She was really tired but wouldn't sleep. Then finally did and didn't sleep enough.

We got to the hotel and she was more than ready to get out of the car. The check in was interesting. Apparently they gave me a room that was way underpriced. I had written a comment on my online registration saying that I did call to verify the room was a 2 room suite because I couldn't believe it was so cheap, but the 2 people I spoke to said it was. Well it was $40 a night underpriced and they didn't have that type of suite, but we did get a nice suite in its place. It has a king size bed in the big bedroom, a huge bathroom with jacuzzi and stall shower, and a nice size living room with a little area with a sink, microwave & small refrigerator/freezer. Shara had no problem with the idea of using her pack and play, just like bubbe said. I'm so glad I listened to her and brought it. She is sleeping now, but it was an interesting evening. While we were unpacking, she was having a good time exploring and helping put things away. We then played for a little bit and she had some snack, but not in a snack cup, in the container. We wanted to go out and get something to eat but she didn't want any part of that. We figured if she was this upset about going out, we wouldn't have much of a good time so we made her mac & cheese, which she ate in the lobby area - complimentary continental breakfast, so had lots of tables set up. We then walked around the hotel a bit and back up to the room. She didn't want to do anything and certainly go out to pick up food. She also just wanted to play in the room, so we read a couple books, relaxed, got into jammies, relaxed more and finally went to sleep. The going to sleep wasn't a problem, surprisingly, but she's been so tired, it's hard to tell if that's the problem or if it's something else. The lack of sleep is casting its shadow on everything it seems.

Alan wanted me to mention that the other night at dinner, I gave her the leftover ice cream from when we went to the Plant Depot Sunday, and she dipped in her perogies and other assorted items from dinner. Apparently she liked it but Alan said the chocolate overwhelmed the other flavors. Yes, he tries most of the strange combos she comes up with because you never know if it's going to be a winner or not.

Oh yes, forgot to mention that it's going to be no warmer than 69 tomorrow and I packed for summer. Tomorrow also seems to be the nicest day of the weekend, so we're still going to the beach, but maybe not to sunbath. Shara should still enjoy playing in the sand. Hopefully she'll have a good, long night sleep.

Meet Me at the Fair

I'm about to go to sleep but just had to jot down a few things before I forget. Today we went to the Marshfield Fair and had a great time. We had all emotions, including mommy crying before we even left. I was so frustrated because no one seemed to want to go to the fair and I couldn't get Shara in the tub or to eat or to do anything but play or watch Cinderella. Needless to say, we did manage to get out the door by 10:15 and were at the fair by 11 or so. We found parking, went in and headed to the anemols (as Shara likes to say). We didn't realize until later that these weren't even the real 4-H animals, but just a few little ones. We saw the ponys and Shara even pet the pony. We watched the falcons and bees make honey and then looked at the vegetables and chicks being hatched. It was lots of country fair fun.

Then we had lunch - we all shared a roast beef (billed as more than it was) and fries. Shara ate almost 1/2 of my 1/2 - just of the meat, and fries. Later we walked around a bit more, got dessert #1 - Alan had frozen latte, I had super yummy strawberry shortcake sundae, and a strawberry banana smoothie for Shara. Shara had none of her smoothie, none of the shortcake, but really loved the coffee drink. We figured there was more sugar than caffeine to worry about and this stand noted that the smoothes had no powder or artificial stuff, so it was a lesser evil issue.

After that we walked around the midway - Shara pitching a fit that she couldn't go in the tilt-a-whirl, then soon falling down and again skinning a knee. Quick recovery and on to the 4-H animals. There were lots - goats, cows, pigs (smelly!), geese, ducks, chickens, roosters, sheep, etc. Shara pet a cow - big one too. It's name was Anna. She wanted nothing to do with Baby - a cute calf that made lots of mooing and stuck it's tongue out while doing so. It was around this time we met up with the Slater clan. More animals and a walk to the area where the bands were playing. We sat for a while and listened to a 50's group, then Carole, Dale & Amy showed up. Dale & the Duds were playing today and Shara's a big fan! All this time - at least an hour, Shara spent walking around the benches, running around the benches, climbing over the benches, and a little dancing thrown in. I don't know where the time went. We really just hung out and listened to the music and watched Shara keep basically out of harm's way. Alan & Shara did take a break from all this and went to see the anemols again. They came back to get me because Shara wanted to go on the pony ride. I was skeptical, but though, "you never know", and after Shar decided she wanted daddy to go with her, got up to the pony and changed her mind. We pet the other pony and went back to hear more music, with a stop to get some ice cream on the way. When Dale finished playing, and Shara finished her ice cream (twist w/ rainbow sprinkles) - all about the same time, we all took our bathroom breaks and tried to figure out the next move. There were some MIA's and people coming and going, so we decided we better go our separate ways. While all this "planning" was happening, Shara figured she had about enough and was going to go to the market to get bananas - started leaving the music field even. Then she realized she'd need mommy's pocketbook, so tried to get that out of the stroller. Really had a fit at the end and would only stop when I asked if she could get in her stroller herself. She did with a little push up and then knocked her eye when she put the lap tray down. Crying, screaming and then realizing no noticeable marks got us back on track to food. Shara said she wasn't hungry but then though the corn dog sounded interesting - hey, food on a stick! What could be better? So we got a sausage & pepper and a corn dog. Daddy ate most of the corn dog, Shara ate a bunch of the sausage and a big piece of Amy's chicken kabob. Wouldn't touch the little piece of broccoli I was hoping she would eat. Oh, we all ended up eating supper at the same table. After supper and Shara again having so much energy! we went back to the 4-H animals but it wasn't that great this time. She did enjoy the chicken more after I told her they were all in cages and wouldn't get out. Alan also found some ducklings that were just hatched and they were so cute! But for the most part, we were done and went back the long way - looking at all the smaller rides and another, more humane, pony ride. Shara wanted to spend more time watching the bumper cars, but we headed out, all the time looking for one more thing to eat (me, not them). I decided more ice cream was needed and by the time we found the place to get it, Shara was sound asleep on my shoulder.

We left - Alan making the astute comment that fair food isn't really that great, it's all the atmosphere, and I could find better ice cream closer to home. He was right and I was satisfied with the ice cream in our freezer! Trip home uneventful but nice to have a chance to have an adult conversation together without the usual, "mommy daddy stop talking" we've been getting lately. She was awake when we got home but bedtime wasn't anything special. Just nice that it took about 10 minutes for her to fall asleep, unlike the usual 30 - 40 recently. That's about it for the fair. Tomorrow I hope to post some pictures.

Didn't like the Fireworks

We went to the Fall River Celebrates America festival last night so Shara, and mommy, could see the fireworks and have some good fair food. All was great. We found easy parking, took a look at some of the rides. We even got tickets to go on the little, teeny, tiny train that Shara wanted to ride on with daddy, but then changed her mind after they took their seats. We ate lobther cakes - clam cakes are much better, grilled chicken on a stick, french fries, Dunkin Donuts smoothie, strawberry shortcake, lots of yummy, greasy food. We looked at the carosel in the museum and had a nice time in general. We also had a ton of fun dancing to Not Your Average White Band while daddy held our primo seats for the fireworks. We went back to our fireworks spot and relaxed until the big, huge, obnoxious, unnessessarily loud bang bang smoke confusion started the display. This was over the battleship. It was truly loud and scared the heck out of Shara. When the display began she was snuggled with me and whimpering. She never cried, but whimpered the she wanted to go. So we did and she burrowed in my shoulder the whole walk to the car. I was very sorry she didn't like them at all, but she was happy and smiling when we put her on the mattress and I laid down with her while she went to sleep. I even was able to leave the room before she was out. She cried a little, but stopped. She did wake in the middle of the night, but I realized she was crying out in her sleep because I heard her saying, "that's mine", as her usual scary dreams go.

We did get the bed yesterday. It's the one pictured at left. Very cute. She would have been happy with any of them. We also got the matching nightstand. Yesterday we put it together but still need to get a guard rail. If we can't find one to attach properly today, we're going to put her old mattress next to the bed in case she rolls out. It's a really low bed, so she won't fall far. We also got a comforter and comforter cover to go with her underwater theme.

Big Girl Bed

Last night Shara wanted to sleep on the floor so Alan got the futon mattress and put it on the floor. It took a while for her to settle down, as usual, but she eventually did and slept well. She's sleeping on it now and this weekend we're going to IKEA to get her a big girl bed. This should be fun. I'm sure her favorite part is that she gets to have us lay down with her.

Her eye is much better but every day she comments at least 2 or 3 times about Shara's eye booboo.

Isn't this Pretty?

As of last night her eye is fully open and beginning to turn green around the edges.

Backtracking

Please take a look at the following posts, which have been updated with pictures:

• Tuesday, July 25, 2006 - Bubbe's Birthday
• Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - Lonesome Jukebox
• Monday, July 17, 2006 - Sandcastles
• Monday, June 26, 2006 - Grandpa Bobby's Birthday

Shopping Trip

Last week I picked Shara up from school and we made a quick stop at the market. She was really cute - when a dancy song started playing, she skipped down the aisle - windmilling her arms and then did some type of interpretive thing with her arms. She was very inspired by her cousin Liz's recital and has been seen imitating the swans. 

eye update

shara's eye is a lovely shade of purple but at least it's now open a little. Kim, the school diretor said to me it would get worse before t got better, but didn't realize...

Tonight shar went to sleep great. We were worried after 2 nights sleeping with us what would happen tonight. She did say she wanted to sleep with us,but we quickly said no.

My little Rocky

Update on Shara - picked her up yesterday after hearing about the bump on her head and it was bigger than I expected, but she wasn't at all phased. Last night we went out for ice cream and the heat made it swell up her eye was a slit - just like Rocky! And purple and blue. We were a little nervous, she wouldn't let us put ice on it at all - had a real fight. So we stood up with her in front of the blowing air conditioner. She ended up sleeping with us so I could keep her from laying on it, keep her elevated and stop her from rubbing it.

Today she went to school and was happy - it seemed like she was able to see since she was reaching for things and not having a problem grabbing them. She also let me put ice on while watching Cinderella, which she wouldn't do last night. It's still big, purple and scary looking, but they say at school that it didn't need stitches, so it could have been worse and there's not much more we can do.

Another Concert

Last night Shara & I went to the Mansfield library to see Dale Freeman and she was a riot - all the kids were jumping around and dancing. I have to get video of her dancing - and then doing windmills while skipping around and when the song's over she claps and shouts "yeah!! yeah!!" really loud! Also when the song ended she would run up to me and jump into my lap before clapping - I think she just had so much energy she didn't know what to do with herself.

Today I got a call from school - has a big goose egg on her eyebrow - but only cried for a minute or so - she's tough! This morning one of the moms said her daughter was biting and asked if Shara ever did that - I said she didn't bite other kids, just Alan and me. When the call came from school, I thought they were calling to say she got bit!

Sleep Update

Things have been up and down with the sleeping. Lately she's been going to bed ok for Alan. He stays with her, but puts her in her crib and she plays then he leaves and she cries a little then plays some more and then falls asleep. The last couple of nights he only had to stay with her about 10 minutes or so then she played and fell asleep. Also sleeping until about 6:30 - 7 AM. We don't put her into bed until about 7:30 now though.

Shopping with Bubbe

We did go shopping with Bubbe on her birthday and had a nice, if not tiring, time. We looked around the Thornes Marketplace in Northampton, MA and had lunch in Paul & Elizabeth's. The food was good but the service wasn't. I asked to have steamed vegetables in place of the salad, thinking maybe Shara would have a piece of broccoli or something, and they said they didn't do substitutes. They went and asked, then said there'd be a $1 charge and I said fine. When my meal came, there was no rice. They said that the substitute was the vegetables in place of the rice & salad. Bubbe split her rice with me and then we got the check and it had a $2 charge for the substitute. They fixed it, but I think the chef got stinky and just didn't want to do it so made it much more difficult than it had to be.

After lunch, where Shara ate the cheese out of her grilled cheese, while sitting on the bench, until she had to sit on my lap, we went shopping. They have a great toy store and Bubbe got Shara a placemat, that Shara picked out herself. It's nice - a map of the USA. We then had some ice cream at Harrells. Shara had a kiddie cookies & cream and ate it all, unassisted and without any mess. We did have a nice time and Shara slept the whole way home, until we got to our exit. We then went to the market for a couple of things and wouldn't sit in the cart until the end, when I forced her in, as she cried, then stopped.

Bubbe's Birthday

Saturday was Bubbe's birthday party, which didn't start until 7PM - around the time we start getting ready for night-night. Well Shara was invited to this adult party and we had no idea how she'd do, but she had a great time. The trip out was rather uneventful - Shara mostly watched Pooh while I knitted and daddy drove. We had a bar in the car and Shara didn't like that I wanted to take the napkin and clean up so she grabbed the napkin and all the crumbs went all over the place. That was lovely. When we got to the area, we stopped for lunch at Jumpin' Jacks - let the tradition begin here. Shara wanted sausage, but was quite happy with a hot dog. Didn't touch the fries. I had a hamburger with grilled onions and onion rings, Alan had a Jack burger & fries. We all ended with ice cream. The we went for beer & ice, then to Bubbe's. Shara played a while, then fell asleep for a nice nap on Daddy for about an hour +.
People started coming for the party a little before 7PM and, as bubbe said, shara had been there all day so she was comfortable and didn't mind all the people. In fact, she was a little social butterfly. The beginning of the night was spend being held by Liz, who really enjoyed the time with Shara. Shara then moved on to visit with the other guests. She really liked Maxine! Maybe it was the way she talked to her - Maxine is very calm and has a melodic voice, or it could be the books she gave Shara, but I think it was Maxine herself. Shara kept going over to her and even gave her duck. Early in the evening we had to move the chocolate eggs off the coffee table since Shara couldn't help herself from taking them. She wasn't interested in the food but had so much fun scooping the ice for everyone. When the desserts were put out, her eyes got big and she spent some time around the table. We watched Bubbe blow out her candles and then, for dessert, Shara picked a lemon cookie with sprinkles and a big strawberry! She didn't really want the cookie but loved the berry. At the end of the night, we got ready for bed and Shara ended up falling asleep on Daddy. Daddy had a nice rest too. Mommy stayed up and talked & cleaned up with bubbe until about 1:30 AM. We all slept until about 8 AM the next morning - very unlike us!
I took Shara to get bagels around the corner - she was so hungry she started her cinnamon raisin in the car. She ended up eating a whole bagel with cream cheese and wanted more. Shara even had some fried egg, but not much, and a bite of a sugar-snap pea. In the car on the way home she had 2 mini bananas and 1/2 a kashi chewy bar. Later in the day she had some snack then 1/2 piece of pizza, some smoothie and a banana/chocolate chip cookie. She also went to bed at around 9PM, on mommy and I had to wake her at 7AM for school. Looks like we're back to not good night-nights! Oh well, it's just a phase (she says with hope in her heart!)
Today we're going to meet Bubbe in Northampton, MA for lunch and shopping for her birthday.

Pictures from Bubbe's Birthday Party

Lonesome Jukebox

We went to an evening concert of Lonesome Jukebox at the Norton Public Library. They have a great park with soft green grass. Though it was hot and steamy, we all had a great time dancing to the music and enjoying free pizza from a local pizza place (great marketing idea - come by with paper plates & a couple of cheese pizzas). Shara loved watching this couple swing dancing in the back and tried to imitate some of their moves. Very cute. 

Sandcastles

We went to see the sand sculpture competition in Revere. There were several firsts for Shara - her first time eating fried dough (loved it, of course), her first trip to Kelley's Roast Beef (too full from fried dough?), first time playing in the ocean (low tide is great).

Take a look at the pics - not in order and lots from the competition.

More Words

Cinderbella, lawnmolar, refrigabator. Yes is used for replying to a want question, whereas yeah is more of an agreement. When we do something together - someone helping shara to do something, it's teamwork - teamwork paste cover - the toothpaste cover.

Sick yesterday

Yesterday we had to have Uma & Jidor come to stay with Shara because she woke up rather tired in the morning but still laughed and I thought she was just catching up on some needed sleep. When we got to the car, I put her in her seat and she threw up the juice she sucked down when she woke up. She had a fever, but not lethargic - actually after she ate 2 pieces of toast & some yogurt. I was worried that she had a bladder infection because she hadn't pee'd, but the I figured her fever peeked in the early morning - she had drank all her water and all the refill and still a dry diaper. Before I left I checked and she was wet. When we got home from work, things were fine - she had napped and had a low fever but nothing significant. We had a fun dinner at Maguires.

Back & Forth

After a fairly good week of sleeping, Shara got a cold and we regressed a bit. Alan is now putting her into bed and she goes to sleep like she used to. Wednesday she woke at about 11 PM and wouldn't go back to sleep - ended up watching Cinderella with her downstairs to keep her upright & from crying, which produced more muccus. She then went back to bed for Alan, won't go to bed for me. But we still didn't get much sleep that night. The next night was almost the same thing, but this time she was testing. Wanting juice & snack @ 11:30 PM, then wanting Cinderella, etc. Classic stall tactics. I gave her a little juice and 2 animal crackers which she didn't drink or eat and tried to get her back to bed, but it had to be Alan to actually place her in bed and then she was fine. I think all this took about 1.5 hours. She's really testing. She pitched a fit over watching Pooh in the car the last 2 days, but you can't give in, I held my ground. She wasn't crying so much that she would have thrown up. I'm learning how to tell the difference. Last night was great - she'll get a big sticker to wear today to school - went into bed about 7:45 (for alan of course) and didn't hear a peep until 4:44 (one minute before my alarm goes off). I heard, over and over, water - more water, water - more water, until I went in and she handed me her cup, I filled it up, gave it back and got thank you mommy, thank you mommy, thank you mommy, and I told her to lay back down, which she did, and said I'd see her in the morning and left the room. She appears to still be sleeping.

We've been pretty busy lately. Last weekend Alan & I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean and to dinner @ not your average joe's. We left when the meals arrived - my stomach wasn't right, but that gave us leftovers for 2 nights and Shara loved the shrimp & scallops. It's nice that she can now eat all that without alergy worries. The next day we were going to go out to dinner for Chris & my birthday, but Thea wanted to cook for us instead, and it was a very nice time. Thea made salad nicoise w/ shrimp & hard boiled eggs - all things Shara loves, and we played a little outside, though Shara didn't want to walk on the grass - I think she didn't want to feel the grass on her feet? She also loved the brownies - how surprising!

Before we went to their house we went out to lunch @ Good days and it was fun - sweet potato fries & mac & cheese, then took a side trip to my work so I could swap out the backup tape and then headed to Lincoln Woods in RI. It was a gorgeous day and we relaxed in the car by the lake while Shara finished napping. After she woke we walked around - again, shara didn't want to walk, but was ok in the stroller. She also didn't want to leave, but obviously we did. We want to go back before the end of the summer for a picnic with Alan's family. They used to have bbq's there a lot when he was a kid and it's a fabulous place. The next day we did some shopping in the morning then out to lunch - Memphis grill in attleboro. Very yummy bbq. Shara didn't want to nap at all and was fine without one - we basically played in the house and I made muffins and dinner. We also started taking advantage of the nicer weather and went for a walk after dinner, which we hadn't done in too long.

This weekend is supposed to be really hot & sticky. We may head for the water or stay inside. Don't know yet. I have a feeling ice cream may be involved though. Not so much for Shara - she takes a bite or 2 but nothing significant. Usually the atmosphere is the great attraction for her.

one good night

Today Shara got a Cinderella sticker because she went to bed so well last night. Alan put her to sleep and she cried, but then settled down. Tonight I'm in the office writing this because Alan is now sitting on the floor of Shara's room, doing what I'm not sure. He played it the same as last night, but tonight she was crying much more and we're (I'm) ever fearful that she'll throw up again. She did this Sunday when we put her down for a nap - all over, really yucky. So I'm off to watch TV. I'm giving up. Wow, that sounds pathetic, but there's really not much I can do.

Just an update - about 4 minutes after I wrote that, Alan came out, Shara cried and then stopped. I'm off to relax in front of the TV now.

terrible twos

Well it seems we're not going to escape the terrible twos. Shara has gotten a few troubling new habits, the worst of which is not napping for us and not sleeping well. Actually she sleeps fine, it's getting her to sleep that poses the problem. She now has to fall asleep on one of us, and then we have to put her into bed asleep. This is something we haven't had to do since she was a month or 2 old. We don't get her to bed until well after8 now, een if she's tired. Tonight alan will go first because she plays and talks/sing too long on me.

July 4th

We celebrated July 4th at the mall. Shara had fun in the food court. 

Grandpa Bobby's Birthday

The last travel weekend for a few weeks - phew! Saturday we went to Saratoga to visit Grandpa Bobby & Nonnie, grandma Ebie, whatever we're calling her today. We had a really good time. Though Shara was pretty clingy, she did go in the pool with Liz & me and went to grandpa & grandma so they could cuddle with her. She even wanted grandpa to put her in the swing and take her to see the dogs, which she didn't seem scared of, but she was being held.

The trip there went quite well, with a lot of help from Pooh. We ate most of the way there - 1/2 a waffle, 1/3 bagel w/cream cheese, a bar, a smoothie ... which was good because there were only munchies easily available. Not that we couldn't have helped ourselves to the kitchen and nonnie did get us a couple slices of cheese. It was a very nice place to visit. Chris & Tom are great hosts and it was so relaxed. You knew you could make yourself at home and just help yourself. At least that's the impression I got.

We didn't realize Chris had a pool, nor that the weather was going to be so nice, but luckily we were able to borrow bathing suits. I didn't think Shara was going to want to go into the pool. She kept fussing about something and I wanted to get a sense of if she wanted to go in, so I said that we should put our feet in and she didn't want to, so I didn't keep the suit on. Liz was in one, and she took Shara in first and I realized she did want to go in. The problem she was having is that she wanted to go in by herself and in the deep end. That's where all the big kids were. So Liz took her down to a nice built in bench near the deep end and played with her there. I joined and it was a lot of fun. Alan got video. We also played on the swings then had dinner and the day went by quickly. Shara really liked being around the big kids but didn't want to join in on kickball or when they were just running around, even though there was an 18 month old boy who was also running. Shara was happy to watch and play with a truck. She did have fun after supper in the top of the swing set with a couple of big girls. They were having fun having her say back what they told her to say, "say swing set", etc.

The ride home was ok. We had a quick stop at bubbe & papa's, and had to carry in a sleeping shara who soon woke up and scarfed down 3 little doughnuts. Then she was up for 1/2 the ride home watching Pooh. I finally told her that we could watch Pooh at home anytime and she didn't have to stay up to see it, so she then wanted me to turn it off and she went to sleep.

Sunday was great. Although I went to the market during naptime, we really didn't leave the house!
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Back to the Capitol Region

This weekend we went back to the Albany area for Liz's graduation party. We had a nice, but rollercoaster type of time. We left after dinner, to let Shara sleep for the ride. She didn't fall asleep until about 1/2 hour before we got to mom's. We brought her in while she was sleeping and she woke up and wouldn't go to sleep in the crib. She did sleep with us, but there wasn't much sleeping for me since little Shara takes up the whole side of the bed like an adult. The next morning was nice. We all had breakfast and played a little while getting ready to go to Jill's. Alan stayed behind to set up mom's computer and mom, Shara & I went to get the pizza's and go help at Jill's.

We got to the Looker's and ran around trying to help get things ready. Between the rushing, Bella barking (just a little), the door slamming, little sleep, etc. Shara was not a happy camper, let alone in the mood to play on her own and be put down. I carried her around most of the day. She didn't like the house and wouldn't let me change her diapers inside but had to go change her in the car. She did have a good time outside and really liked the chocolate dipped strawberries & apricots. She put a whole big apricot in her mouth and started to gag. I told her to spit it out and she did. She then didn't want to waste it and preceeded to eat it. A little slime never hurt anyone.

The most fun I think she had was on the trampoline. She even remembered jumping with Kathleen, which really surprised me that she remembered her name and everything. We had a good time too and it was great fun seeing Howard and his family. It's amazing how the time goes by so quickly and you don't realize it until there are new little people right in front of you that you never met before.

We went home that night and Shara slept the whole way home and didn't really wake up until about 8 AM the next day, which was Father's Day. We got up and moving and went to breakfast at Good Days. Shara sat in a booster seat and it worked out great. She's such a big girl. After breakfast we went to Uma & Jidor's for a quick visit. Shara didn't really have a chance to fall asleep in the car and then wouldn't take a nap but stayed up and played. We did need to have a chill-out time when she started getting over-stimulated and began hitting Brutus. She agreed that it would be a good idea for her to play in her crib a little. That evening she went to bed fine, but woke screaming at about midnight. I thought she was sick or hurt, but it must have been a bad dream and she didn't want to go back to sleep and didn't until she had some tylenol around 4 AM. She woke again @ 5:30 but went back after just a short-ish time with mom in the chair. Not a fun night. We'll see what happens tonight!

Shara's Birthday Party

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted! We have been so busy. Shara's second birthday party was a very nice day for all. We had a smaller party than originally thought, but it ended up being nice that there weren't too many people. It wasn't rushed and we were all able to relax and visit. Shara had a great time eating with her friend Katie at her big girl table, which we put downstairs in the family room. When Hannah came all the girls had fun chasing bubbles and helping to open the presents. They were so cute and even though Katie had on a lovely green cast on her arm, she still managed to eat her cupcake and ice cream as well as the others. I got a little weepy - ok, I was basically crying - when everyone was singing "happy birthday" to Shara. She was so happy! I don't think I've ever seen her so excited and you could tell from her face how special she felt. She's so cute. It was a very nice day and the butterfly cookies & cupcakes turned out great and the most important part is that everyone was able to be together on such a nice day.

A few new (and not so new) things

Before I forget, I have to write these down.

• When Shara doesn't know the word for something, or doesn't know how to answer, she says something like, "pastala".
• She's trying so hard to jump - squats down then tried to blast off
• she loves playing with her baby, Bella. She wants me to change her diapers - I just pretend and say what I'm doing. I suggested the other day she teach baby the song she was singing - row row, and shara thought that was so funny!
• she counts to four, skips five, and goes to six
• she is now fond of saying, "no like that" - a few times in a row to make sure we understand. She also says, "no mommy" and "no daddy" quite a lot, or "stop that!". Oh yes, and, "mommy sit down chair" and lots of "uppie". Other phrases include: suppertime!, lunchtime, diaper change or change me,
• Recently if Alan or I are with her in her room, she'll tell us, "mommy kitchen go" and if we don't, she'll lead us into there and tell us to stay, while she goes back into her room.
• She likes drinking out of a regular cup - at school I let her have a drink from the water cooler before we leave, but she's very insistant on pouring herself and runs and pulls the handle sometimes before putting the cup under. I'm trying to teach her that I'll let her do it but she has to wait for me - ha ha.

The Dance Recital

We went to see Liz dance in her last recital. We drove up after lunch, thinking Shara would sleep, but we were wrong. She was awake until about an hour before we got there, but she was very busy changing baby's diapers, singing, and having a good time. She entertained herself and it was an easy trip.

No one was sure how Shara would react to the recital. Unfortunately we didn't get to see Samantha dance, but we'll be able to see her next year. This was Liz's last year so we really wanted to see her solo, and it was wonderful. We were all so proud of her. I couldn't look at Jill, and vice-versa. We kept getting weepy, though Jill had more reason to than I. I was just so proud of Liz and kept thinking of what a wonderful young woman she's becoming. And, as usual, got very homesick and wished we could be around for the everyday things more.

The beginning of the recital was Swan Lake and mom warned me that there was one part where Shara might get scared. She did, but was fine after. She didn't cry out and the part that seemed to bother her the most was when they took so long during set changes and kept the lights in the theater off. That she didn't like. When the "spell" was on stage, she did want to sit with daddy, but after the intermission, she wanted to sit with Jill and stayed there the entire recital. She didn't seem to blink she was so enthralled, and for days after talked about Liz and Samantha dance. We all went to Chili's afterward for supper and Shara did great right up to the end. Then she was done, but we were too, for the most part. The ride home wasn't too special but was really tiring. It was late and shara was asleep before we even hit the highway.

Trot trot to Boston

Yesterday we had a really fun time at Faneuil Hall. It was a perfect day, weather-wise. We got there at about 11 AM, great timing - parking was easy, not too crowded in Quincy Market, so we could see all the food, which, as usual, was overwhelming. Shara had a sample of chicken teriyaki. Lots of fun to eat - her first time eating a sample off a toothpick. She saw lots of cakes & candies which I told her we could have for dessert. I figured there was so much there that she didn't know what she really wanted and I got a fajita salad with black beans & guacamole and Alan got a chicken kabob with fries & greek salad. We found a table on the second floor - grabbed it when someone left, and Shara managed to sit on a regular chair. She didn't want to kneel and it was fine. She could barely see what was on her plate, but picked up the beans, chicken and fries anyway!

After lunch we listened to some of the street performers. She really liked watching a couple of little girls dancing to a guitar player. We got some cookies & frozen yogurt and went to the other side of the market to sit amidst the pigeons and enjoy the beautiful day. Dogs were a big hit, and there were lots, and we also saw another musician and danced. Shara really wants to jump and works hard at every day. This was no exception and she kept squatting, ready to blast off, but no air.

We left after a few fun hours. She was out before we got on the highway and slept all through the BJ's run and driving around looking for different styles of entry ways for our house. Auntie Chris babysat for the first time while we went to see X-Men 3. We left at about 10 of 7, and I couldn't lie to Shara and put her to bed, sneak out and have Chris there to make sure all was well. It sounded like Shara played Chris quite well. She played in her crib, got out of the crib, wanted this and that and finally got to bed around 8 PM. Sounds like it was a good time for all!

Recovering from the Rain

I feel so bad for the teachers. I know that all the other kids are behaving just like shara - off the wall! Everyone has cabin fever. The other night Shara wouldn't finish her dinner. She got really really mad at us for not understanding what she was saying and pitched a hissy fit. She said she wanted to go to bed so I got her changed and put into bed. She wanted to play in bed and didn't want mommy to leave - "mommy stay". Well mommy was tired too and wanted to go back to the dining room and finish dinner, so we both went and I sat down to finish my salad and now it was "mommy up". I stood up for a bit, eating my salad and then told Shara mommy was tired and I was going to eat my salad. Then it was "daddy up", so daddy stood a bit and Shara bounced around off the walls - singing loud, running around, and I guess dancing and trying to jump. She was making very erratic movements and I said to just let her go and get some of this energy out.

Last night we went for a stroller walk after we got home and got supper started and I thought that, with a day on the playground would calm her down, but I think she'll need a few more days out before this bout of cabin fever is finished. She really is testing too. During supper she wanted more ketchup and she had enough all ready, plus there was still a lot on her plate, so I said no more ketchup. Explained I knew she wanted more, as she was starting to scream & cry, but held my ground and she was fine. Then we made a game out of it - she said more and I said, "more green beans?", she said, "no, more". I replied, "more pasta?" she said, "no, more" and started laughing, and on it went around all the food on her plate. I have to remember that humor is a great tool to use when she's acting her age.

She still had a bunch of energy after supper so we ran & jumped around her room and didn't get to the bedtime routine until later than usual. She still didn't fall asleep until playing in bed for at least a 1/2 hour.

Mother's Day '06

Shara, mommy, daddy, uma, and jidor all took a trip to Northampton to meet bubbe & papa at the Hotel Northampton for their Mother's Day Brunch. This all happened during what should have been Shara's nap time, so on the way there, we tried to get Shara to take a nap. She wouldn't. When I told her I wanted her to take a nap, have a rest, she started crying. A little while later I said the same thing, but added that we'd wake her up when we got to the restaurant, she actually listened to me and took a nap. It was only about an hour long, so not her normal rest period.

We got there at the same time as bubbe & papa. We went into the restaurant and headed to the bathrooms. There were so many people that we just did a standup diaper change, then headed to the ballroom. All the mom's got flowers. We were seated right in the middle of all the hubub and it was crowded - lots and lots of families and little kids. It was really nice, but a bit much for Shara. Next time we'll definitely ask for a table along the side, but next time it may be another issue.

Alan waited with her at the table while I made her a plate. I think she had a few bites of bagel, a piece of greenbean, and home fries. She quickly wanted to get up and then wouldn't let me put her down. When Alan finished eating I finished and took her for walks around the hotel. One time, after heading back to the table to eat dessert - Shara wanted none, I asked her if she wanted to go for a walk and she said yes. I put her down, stood up to walk with her and she started screaming. The blood-curdling kind. I picked her up and took her out, but apparently along the way she let out a couple more and the room got very quiet while we made our exit. There were so many kids and families it wasn't too bad. I just felt bad that she wasn't having a happy time.

During all of this we did get to spend time with bubbe & papa and they were thrilled, dispite the tears & screams, as was Shara. She remembers it as being fun. Next year we'll go earlier in the morning and ask for a not so centered table. She'll also be a whole year older, so that will make a big difference. I had a good time as well and it's always nice to get a chance to be with family.

I have no pictures - I forgot my camera, so bubbe, please send yours!

Almost time for a big girl bed

Yesterday, before Shara's nap, I needed to change her diaper. She wanted to go to bed and started to climb in. She had her feet in between the bars and on the mattress and thought that was the greatest thing. She tried to get higher, but I pulled her down. At Lowe's yesterday, while we were buying plants for our window boxes, she started climbing out of the cart and also tried again at the market.

On a different note, no pun intended, Shara and I had a good time "scatting", like Ella. We should have recorded it, but on second thought...

Berkshire's Pics

Click for Pictures

As soon as I have a few extra minutes, I'll power up the laptop and post the notes from the trip, which was so much fun!

Berkshires 2006 - Day 7

Thursday was great fun, even without Shara having a nap. Bubbe & Papa met us at the resort and they came in for a few minutes where we tried to figure out where we were going to go for the day. We originally were going to go to the Norman Rockwell Museum, but with it being rather late, we opted to go to lunch and play it by ear. Mom brought Shara a plastic duck bill / horn. "Noisy Duck, Noisy Duck", away. So that was the end of duck. We applied the appropriate stickers for the day and got in the van to go to the Barrington Brew Pub, again. We figured it was quick and easy to find parking, but along the way I realized that none of our meals were really good enough to go back, other than the sweet potato fries, so we went back to Martins for lunch. Shara & I repeated our breakfast of the other day and Alan had a burger. He said it was good, but not like the one from the Purple Pub. He was also not feeling too well - took antihistamine and was really tired. Mom & Irwin liked their lunches too. Shara didn't really want any pancake today, but ate over 1/2 of the broccoli omelette.

After lunch, which, as usual, we left in a hurry (when Shara doesn't have food in front of her, she's more than done), we went to look around Stockbridge. We had fun. Alan got a cupcake and coffee from the bakery and relaxed on a bench, Irwin relaxed on the veranda of the Red Lion Inn and mom, Shara and I went looking in the General Store. We then walked over to the Red Lion Inn to check out their gift shop. Mom wanted to get Shara a little something and Shara liked the idea of the travel pack of tissues with cats on them. She really liked those! We relaxed a little and took some pictures then we got back in the car and went to the Lenox Shops to seek out Chocolate Springs. Shara was way overdue for a nap, so wasn't at her most relaxed. We were going to get her some ice cream - homemade, of course. The man offered a sample and I said that would probably be enough for her, but she didn't want anything to do with it. I enjoyed it! It was really amazing - custard, more than ice cream. This place was a fabulous place - we had nice iced coffee drinks - I had the iced mocha, made with their own chocolate. Shara was actually very good. She played a bit with Alan, walked around looking at the chocolate with me, and sat with Bubbe, but I had to pass her off to Alan so I could decide what I wanted for my chocolate purchase. I finally decided on their version of a turtle. Of course I didn't eat it until that night, but it was like no turtle I ever had. The caramel was more like a butterscotch. It was so flavorful and the pecans were super-fresh. I can't describe the chocolate - it was smooth, creamy and rich, but didn't overpower the caramel, or vice-versa. So, after Chocolate Springs we played outside a little and took a look at the linen outlet. Sadly we had to end the day, but on the way back to the resort, Alan & I decided to go home today, rather than rush out and waste a day driving. There was a bit of a rush to get it all packed up, but Shara sat in the chair and watched us run around. That was when she wasn't trying to escape out the door or when she got into the garbage and knocked out the coffee grinds! Let's face it, it wasn't much fun for her having to stay out of the way while we packed. I'm sure it was pretty confusing as well. Come on, we're going home now!

The trip home wasn't anything special. Since Shara didn't have any nap, we figured she'd sleep the whole way and she did, up until we hit 495. We didn't want to deal with dinner, so we went to Maguire's. We didn't get there until 7PM, Shara's normal bedtime, but she did great. She ate a 1/2 plate of macaroni & cheese (Kraft) and I really enjoyed the chicken pear salad. Alan had an ok Reuben.

Since we came home early, we had an extra day to play. Shara & I went to SAILS to pick up a couple of videos I had on hold and we took a little trip to Target to see if they had any invitations for her Birthday. We're going with the butterfly theme, inspired by Magic Wings. They didn't have anything, but we took a nice walk through the parking lot over to the party store, which also didn't have anything!

Berkshires 2006 - Day 6

Wednesday we took about an hour trip to Williamstown to find a playground and look around the town. We had breakfast - oatmeal, then took a bath and headed out. The trip wasn't too long and we went through farmland and saw the mountains. It was a beautiful, but a little chilly, day. Our first stop was a bookstore to ask where the playground was, since we went right by it and didn't see it. It was a very nice bookstore on Water St. We used their bathrooms (thank you!) and went to the park. Shara always loves the swings and today was no different. I think she swinged for at least 20 minutes. She also went down the slide a few times but then it was back to swinging!

After the park we went into the town and looked for a place to eat. Alan had to make an emergency trip to the car for Duck and Shara & I looked around for somewhere to eat. I thought there would be more to the town than there was, but there wasn't. There was really only one good choice for lunch with child and it turned out to be an excellent one. It was the Purple Pub - a real bar, but they had the best burgers and the special of the day was American Chop Suey which sounded really good to Shara. While I was in the rest room, they asked Alan if we wanted a child size portion and he said the regular. I would have said the child, but it's a good thing he didn't. We did leave with leftovers but Shara ate over 1/2.
After lunch we looked in one of the gift stores and then went to get an ice cream. Shara liked the looks of the purple cow - black raspberry ice cream with dark & white chocolate. We got it in a cup and mommy & Shara shared.

Since it was going to take another hour to get back to Lee, we left after ice cream. This was also good timing since it was Shara's nap time. Shara fell asleep in about 5 minutes and we decided to take a detour and find the other resort in the area. The Ponds at Fox Hollow was very nice and quiet. Very different from where we were staying. I think when we're ready to go back in a couple years it will be perfect for us. We then went back to the room and had leftovers for supper.

Berkshires 2006 - Day 5

Tuesday we woke up, got ready and went to Great Barrington for the best breakfast ever at Martin's. This was voted the best breakfast in GB and it was. I had high hopes and it met my expectations. Shara and I "split" a broccoli & cheddar omelette and apple pancakes. I ate almost all, but she really enjoyed it too. She liked dipping her pancakes in the ketchup and needed the maple syrup on her plate, but didn't seem to use it. Alan had his usual - eggs over medium, bacon, home fries, & toast. He said his was good, but he wasn't as over-enthused as I was. Great restaurant for kids. In fact, there were a couple of groups with kids while we were there, and very friendly clientelle. I think they were mostly locals.
Since it was so nice and sunny out, after breakfast we took a nice walk down Railroad St. to the left and down by the river to look at the sculpture. Shara took a stroller walk and we also brought baby, who now has the name Bella. We left Bella in Shara's stroller by the horse sculpture and walked around to look at the others. It was fun and we played around and around one of them. We then walked up the other side of Main St. and went into a few shops. A cute one was Pink Cloud. They have cat clocks but I liked the cat birdfeeder. Shara was really good touching everything. There were several items that were unbreakable and I took a look at how often I touch things in stores and realized that she isn't doing anything different than I. Even in the two or three toy stores in the town - she would pick things up and look at them and then put them down. She really is very gentle, as her Jidor says. The toy store on Railroad St. seemed to be the most enjoyable for Shara. She could have stayed there all day playing with the Brio / Thomas the Tank Engine Railroad set. I told Alan I'd really like to get her one and think next Hannukah / Christmas would be the time. She just got her kitchen and needs to use that for longer. I also don't think she'll appreciate a railroad set for at least that long.

We then went back to the room for lunch - leftovers - and a nap. Shara slept for her usual two hours and I did the laundry and Alan cleaned up the rooms. We decided to stay in for dinner since we had so many leftovers (mostly from Bizen but Shara ended up eating all the chicken and melted cheese, onions & peppers from her sub!) still and just played around the apartment, had supper and went to bed.

Berkshires 2006 - Day 4

Monday was much better. Much better. We woke early and took our time getting ready. Shara only had a smoothie for breakfast but had no interest in eating anything else and if she was hungry she'd eat. We had a nice bath and got ready for a day of what, we didn't really know. Alan saw info on a butterfly place and that looked interesting. There's one in Stockbridge and we found out it is only open May - Oct. but another one is open year round. This happened to be an hour away so we didn't bother and went out to see what was in historic Lenox. Not too much, but we found a bagel place and had a bagel and Shara had a raisin bran muffin, of which she picked out and ate all the raisins and not too much of the muffin. We went for a stoller walk and saw the library, closed, a kitchen store, closed, and other assorted galleries and markets. It was cold and there wasn't much more to see but Shara really wanted to keep walking. We got her in the car because I told her we'd go look for diapers for baby - the size 4's didn't fit her very well. This was really what I thought we'd do, not just a ploy to get her in the car. There's a nice toy store in Great Barrington and many more shops there. As we started in that direction Shara fell asleep so we took an about face and drove the hour to Deerfield to Magic Wings, the butterfly place. Such a great idea Alan!

We got there and Shara was still sleeping so we went to the bathroom and waited. She woke up and we did a diaper change where she screamed the whole time but eventually it was done and we went inside. Shara wanted uppie and wouldn't walk herself. The first room is filled with insects and reptiles. The hissing cockaroches were lovely. We went into the butterfly room and it was so much more amazing than I ever thought it would be. This is something I can't believe I'll ever have the opportunity to experience in nature - there were tons of butterflies. Alan did the math and said there were butterflies every 1'x2'. The most prominant variety were the blue morphoes - the one in Silence of the Lambs. But there were at least 50 varieties (trying to remember the chart). Shara eventually allowed us to put her down, not that she really had a choice, and she learned to walk around by herself. For a Monday there were a lot of people there. Kids and adults, many taking photographs. Shara had so much fun looking at the fish in a small pond they had, the miniature quails, birds, and butterflies. She was really good - didn't chase them, but after her first ice cream cone we went back in and she started running around and did touch a couple of the flowers, which no one is supposed to do. Oh well, I doubt she caused any major damage. She was always aware of where we were and didn't go to far away and had so much fun climbing on the built in benches in one of their gazeboes. She pulled herself up on the bench and only needed a little bit of support sliding herself down, then over to the opposite bench and up, then down - she did that for at least 15 minutes!

So she had an ice cream cone, that she specifically asked for. I asked her if she was hungry, since we hadn't eaten anything since around 10 AM and it was already 1:30PM and she said ice cream. She had seen another girl eating a cone. I said fine and now realize we always need to ask for a dish along with. There was a hole in the bottom and the cone experience was way too rushed for Shara. But she was ok about mommy eating her cone really quickly as it was dripping all over the floor. After the cone we went in for more butterflies and that's what we did until about 3:30 PM. It was the best thing for another dreary day. It really didn't rain too much though, but it was chilly.

We got back in the car and headed in search of Richardson's Candy. Couldn't find it but we did find Yankee Candle Toys. I had no idea what we were going to find in this big building. I thought we could continue our search for diapers so when we got inside of this massive and beautiful toy store I asked if they had any and got no for an answer. That was fine because they had tons of other interesting things to look at and the displays were amazing. Along the ceiling was a conveyor of toys from Santa's Workshop and trains all over. Shara really liked playing with the Thomas the Train set. She does seem to gravitate toward the train sets whenever we're in a store. We meandered around the puppets and went to the castle and saw the biggest nutcracker I've ever seen. They had a waterfall and in the Department 56 room it was snowing! Shara was awed by it all, as was I. Alan was even impressed. As soon as we started getting close to the "stinky" part, we turned around. I didn't think I'd mind, but took one whiff of the orange candle (how bad can orange be?) and turned around quick. It was really gross. It was also close to 4:30 PM and we had an hour drive back. We got on the road, gassed up and headed back to the room for diapers, wipes and baby.

For dinner we were able to get to Bizen and it wasn't very crowded, though it did start filling up during our dinner. Shara sat in a booster seat for the first time and we were in a corner table - mommy at the bottom of the "L" and then Shara in the corner and Daddy next to her on the longer side. Other than Shara kicking me though the whole dinner, she was very good. She played with her cups until dinner arrived. Shara had the Udon with tempura vegetables, Alan had teriyaki sea bass with a salad and I had teriyaki salmon with miso soup. We also ordered edamame (so fun to play with) and some sushi (Japanese gourd for Shara to try, which she didn't, red tuna sashimi & white albacore tuna sushi). I didn't want to have any sushi either. It all came pretty much at the same time, which was great for dining with a child, but not for relaxing and savoring. Even with the rush, everything tasted wonderful. The salmon melted in my mouth and the vegetables that came with it were crisp and so fresh. Shara ate her noodles (we should have gotten a picture) by the handful. They were stickier than I would have thought. She also had some sweet potato and butternut squash tempura and a bite of my salmon. I had told her at the beginning of the meal that if we had a good suppertime and she acted "nice" we could get dessert. It's funny but when she's done, she's done and couldn't care about anything else. So when she was done, we cleaned up and I took her for a walk down the street while Alan got things packed up. He said they were really good about the whole thing - they saw we were done and were really fast about getting our things together. He left a big tip. Shara and I walked down the street hand in hand, only after I gave her the shpeal about the cars not driving on the sidewalk but in the road and we would be fine if she just held my hand and we stayed on the sidewalk. She's so cautious - must have a great imagination. We did have fun looking in the storefronts and will go back the next non-raining day, which is supposed to be Wednesday.

We got back to the room around 7:30 PM and she was so funny. We went into her room for a diaper change and she turns on the TV. I give in since I want her still for a change, and she leaps up to the head of the bed, lays down and starts watching tv. She looked like a teenager. It was so funny. I pull her down, we laugh and I try to get her to have a change and she's too wired. I forget that kids don't settle down as easily as adults. Eventually she does settle down and we all read Gossie & Friends, say "goodnight" to the moon and the river and daddy and get into bed. I try to tell her that she knows I'm going out the door even if she's crying, so she should just lay down nice, but she doesn't care and cries for a minute or two after I shut the door. Then that's it until our next day of vacation!