More Zoo Photos

I don't know why I've felt compelled to publish all these zoo photos, but here are a few more. My mom and dad are traveling in Europe right now and they, at least, will probably enjoy a few extra pictures of their only granddaughter.

There's a peacock behind Harper in the photo above.

You can see it better here, but miss the pretty flowers.

Harper and Auntie Shannon on the train.

Harper looking like she might have been asked to smile one too many times.

Slightly frightening goats that we didn't actually let Harper near. Because of her peanut allergy, animal feed is generally not a safe thing for her to have her hands in anyway. Based on the look of these goats, I was happy to have a solid reason for saying no!

Here Harper pets a much calmer goat who appears not to be regularly fed by zoo attendees.

She was looking for seals, which I failed to capture on camera, but don't you love her little silhouette?

One More Thing

Alexandra (Hi! Nice to meet you.) tagged me for an eight things meme. I am feeling a little repetitive since I just did the seven things last month. I am not sure I can come up with eight more random facts. . . and I am tempted to just add one to my previous list. But I won't be a cheater, here you are:

1. I love football season. I cheer heartily for the Wisconsin Badgers and the Green Bay Packers. Last year when Brett Favre choked up during an interview after the last game of the season my entire family was in tears in our living room watching it. My brother, who is nearly 22, does not remember a time when Favre was not the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers. I'm fairly serious when I say that one of the saddest things about living in Ohio for me is that I do not get to see the Packers play every weekend. Before I had a child I would nearly always find a bar where I could watch the game, now, not so much.

2. I'm listening to Mandy Moore's new CD right now. It's good. Not all pop-princess like her early stuff. She co-wrote this new album and it is in the singer/songwriter vein I so enjoy. Good job Mandy!

3. I started playing tennis as an adult. I only play occasionally now, another thing that fell by the wayside when I had a child, but I love it. I also really enjoy watching tennis on television and am excited about the U. S. Open. My tennis serve is all goofy (though effective) because of all the years I spent playing volleyball.

4. I have a MySpace page and no idea why. Actually that's not true, some of the musicians I follow had their schedules and things on MySpace and I had to get my own page to view their pages. So MySpace is pretty much a giant conspiracy. Want to be my friend?

5. I am predisposed to enjoying almost anything I find even remotely interesting. For example, I read several Sweet Valley University novels, borrowed from the library (at least I didn't purchase them), when I was way too old to be doing so. If our local library carried them, I would totally read the Gossip Girl novels (but I won't buy those either). Since our huge library system has not one single copy, I am thinking I should actually run in the other direction.

6. I am a little embarrassed by number 5. I want you to know that I also read lots of award winning, high quality literature. I read three Faulkner novels one summer when Oprah's book club had them published in a nice boxed set. (Although I think I lose a little credit if I only did it because Oprah told me to, so maybe that's not the best example.)

7. I am not picky about movies either. I don't like horror movies, but find movie watching in general to be a very pleasing experience. I saw Hairspray this weekend and loved it. I also rented a movie called Millions and loved that too. A movie has to be really, really bad for me not to enjoy it. I always want the soundtracks to movies I enjoy. I rein in that impulse much of the time. Also, movie previews often make me cry. Saw one for August Rush this weekend that nearly had me sobbing. It's the music; emotional music puts me right over the edge.

8. My favorite color is purple.

I'm supposed to tag six other people to do this, but I usually break that meme rule. If you enjoyed this, and want to do your own eight things, leave a comment so I can go read yours.

Two Lists

Things that were difficult to handle today:

1) Eleven hour car ride back to Ohio from Wisconsin; usually takes around seven hours, eight on a bad day.

2) The DVD player refusing to function the final five hours of the trip.

3) The flooded, and hence, closed, freeway from Illinois to Indiana which caused us to be stuck in a massive traffic jam; moving 2.5 miles in 2.5 hours.

4) The less than considerate drivers that kept driving up the shoulder of the road, zooming past the stopped cars, and then trying to merge back in; making a difficult situation much more so.

Things I found myself extremely grateful for today:


1) The DVD player worked the first six hours of the trip -- Dora, thank you for your two-year-old-mind-numbing magic. I love you despite the fact that I cannot get the "We did it!" song out of my head.

2) Harper cried for a mere 3 minutes of the entire ordeal.

3) She slept for 2.5 hours and did it after the DVD stopped working.

4) She requested a bathroom trip, during which we all emptied our bladders, approximately fifteen minutes before we became stuck on the freeway of no return. Her timing was perfect. Had we not made that stop. . . I shudder to think of it.

5) There was no peeing in the car.

6) There was no throwing up in the car.

7) There was nothing even remotely resembling a tantrum in the car.

8) When the DVD stopped working, and Harper stopped napping, I was miraculously free of motion sickness while reading to her in the backseat (I'm generally only a front seat reader).

9) Ann drove an extra 140 miles or so to meet us where we finally got off the freeway of no return. (We were doing a meet and switch, so my mom didn't have to drive all the way to Ohio and back.) She was supposed to drive a little less than 1/2 way and ended up coming probably 2/3 of the way. When "the way" is a total of 425 miles, that's a significant difference.

10) I was not alone with Harper in the traffic mess.

11) We were not stuck in traffic while fleeing a natural disaster (although, incidentally, if it ever becomes urgent for large masses of people to flee east from Chicago, we're all in big trouble.).

12) We had a nearly full tank of gas when we got stuck in the 2.5 hour traffic nightmare.

13) Everyone arrived home safely in the end and Matt and Rebound were here to greet us.

All's well that ends well.

And Now, the Zoo Photos

Back in July, Aunt Meaghan and Auntie Shannon were both here visiting and we all took a trip to the zoo. I decided I couldn't decide which photos to post, I must post many, and so here is the first installment. These are all pictures of Harper and zoo statues (or statue-like things). Please enjoy and then leave a comment to let me know whether you also think the girl-statue reading a book is just a little creepy looking. It might help you to know that she is almost directly across from the polar bear exhibit.

(I interrupt these photos to point out that Harper was trying to hold the girl's hand, but, darn it, she wouldn't let go of that book.)

Somewhere at home I also have a picture of Harper, in this same turtle shell, in which she looks like a total thug. If I remember I will post it later this weekend.

There are lots of things that went undocumented this summer, now that I'm trying to do a little catching up, I feel uninspired to do much writing about most of it. So you can look forward to a few photo-heavy posts. Because please, who wouldn't want to look at pictures of Harper all day?

I also have many fun photos from our week in Wisconsin, mostly of Harper with the people we visited, but I need to take them home and do some strategic red eye removal before they are ready for posting. Stay tuned!

For Your Amusement

I was about to post a bunch of pictures of Harper with various statues at the Cincinnati Zoo when I saw a little film-looking icon in the tool bar of the Blogger posting screen. So I decided to try to upload a video instead.

Now I love YouTube as much as the next guy, but if Blogger has created a tool that allows me to directly post video, without uploading elsewhere and then cutting and pasting URLs? Well I might just kiss it, no, make out with it, and consider marrying it. . . well maybe that's a little extreme. Blogger? May I take you to a movie and buy you a snow cone?

Oh yes, this video is Harper playing my parents' piano and singing, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," none of which you'll be able to hear because the sound quality of our little camera is questionable. But please note the enthusiasm with which she plays!

Edited to add:

It worked!!! I am a little frightened at how excited this makes me. I really do want to kiss Blogger.

Blogger, I love you. I am sorry for all the times I complained that you were slow. And for that one day when you failed to notify me about a comment. All is forgiven. Will you go out with me?

Also, sorry for the poor lighting, it is not Blogger's fault.

Note to self -- work on videography skills!

Enough?

Here's how you can tell your child has watched too much preschool television:

Earlier this week Harper was asking for something that had a guitar in it -- she pronounces guitar, "ki-tar."

"I want the ki-tar one! Ki-tar, ki-tar, kiiii-taaarrr. Can you say ki-tar?"

We (my mom, dad, sister, and I) all say, "guitar."

"Good job sayin' ki-tar! I knew you could say ki-tar!"

******

Other funny things Harper has said this week include:

Watering the driveway and then saying, "Now it will grow into a tall mountain. The biggest mountain in the whole wide world!" (Incidentally, I thought that was fairly good reasoning. Watering things makes them grow and what would concrete grow into besides a mountain?)

Pulling up her big-girl pants after a trip to the bathroom, "Dziatku calls them britches, can you say britches? Now I will sing the britches song. . . britches, britches, britches, britches."

Newport Aquarium

Way back in June my mother came to visit her only granddaughter, bring us a sandbox (which was actually not a reason for, just a happy side-effect of, her visit), and give Matt's mom a break from babysitting while I was in school. On the day I did not have classes, we decided to take Harper to the Newport Aquarium, in Northern Kentucky. If you don't count the time she attended in-utero, it was her first visit. Harper enjoys fish, so it seemed like a good fit.

Before we took her in the aquarium, however, we made her stand in rather intense wind for this photo with Cincinnati in the background. It looks like she's about to be blown down into the river, but never fear, Mugga never would have let that happen.

So the aquarium is a pretty interesting place. My only complaint is that it is designed to flow in one direction so you pretty much go from beginning to end and it is difficult to backtrack and take another look at something. For most visitors this probably isn't a big deal, but Harper, once she learned there were SHARKS! really wasn't interested in looking at much else. We went on turbo speed past many cool exhibits to get to the SHARKS! which, being the most popular attraction, are located at the end of the setup.

We learned something new during our day at the aquarium; actually two new things. 1) Given the one-way orientation, it needs more bathrooms. 2) There is an animal called a shark ray which can be viewed there. There are two and apparently this is the only place they are on display in this hemisphere. I believe this aquarium boasts the only shark ray breeding program in the world. Now, did you know that some sharks are born alive and some hatch from eggs? (Consider yourself educated!) When we were there someone asked a guide whether shark ray babies would be born alive or hatch from eggs, and the guide said, "No one really knows." Um, huh?! I really though scientists had already documented most of that stuff, but I guess not!

Here's what Harper looks like after a long day of fish-gazing. The aquarium gets an A+ for Toddler Poop-Out Factor.

Long, Long Ago

Those of you who also read Giselle's blog will know this story already, but it's too good not to share. . .

Way back in mid-June Giselle, Jeff, and their children, Lily and Andrew, were in town for a wedding. The night of the rehearsal dinner, Giselle and the kids opted for pizza and a visit with us while Jeff met his groomsman obligation. Let's face it, rehearsal dinners are rarely fun for children, even if they are in the wedding!

We had high hopes for Andrew and Harper's getting together because they both tend to say hilarious things. I think we all imagined some intense preschool conversing, but it never really happened. They warmed up to each other about ten minutes before our guests had to leave. Harper, with no siblings of her own, gets so excited about children visiting that she can barely contain herself, but she didn't really know what to make of Andrew and she practically buried Lily by handing her a bazillion toys.





I know it is quite difficult to imagine, but Lily is far cuter in person than she is in photos, and she's darn cute in photos. If you don't want more children, then you'd best not meet her, because she is that adorable and agreeable.

Now for the funny part:

At one point both Harper and Andrew had to go to the bathroom. We decided to let them use the bathroom at the same time, Andrew on the "big potty" and Harper in our potty seat. Harper glanced up while Andrew was sans underwear, gasped, and exclaimed, "Andrew, you have a tail!"

To which a dismayed Andrew said, "I do not!"

(Yes, yes, an anatomy lesson is probably in order.)

Coming Soon!

Hello! Harper and I are at Mugga and Grandpa's in Wisconsin. We drove up with them today. From Ohio. It took eight hours.

Eight hours in a car.

With a two-year-old.

Which, as it turns out, is exactly the situation God forsaw when he created the portible DVD player and Dora the Explorer DVDs, available at the library.

Harper was an angel.

Please don't send me hate mail. . . we only use that thing for these long trips. Let's face it, sitting on the freeway in bumper to bumper traffic outside of Chicago is no picnic even if you are an adult!

We even made it all the way with no bathroom accidents.

So we're here for a week. It's vacation. My summer classes are finished. I plan to spend the week being relatively lazy and trying to catch up on some of the things I didn't blog about this summer, such as:

a visit from Giselle and her beautiful children
two visits from Mugga
a visit from Aunt Meaghan
a visit from Auntie Shannon
our fifth anniversary and a huge surprise from Matt

All this and pictures coming up -- stay tuned!

We're Melting!

Ugh. It's hot here. And we have air conditioning. I cannot imagine what we'd do without it during a week like this. Yesterday, to protest the heat, Harper spent much of the day running around in her purple shoes and big girl pants.



Behind Harper you can view her zoo animals lined up in "time out." Harper has seen a lot of time out lately and she has started routinely giving her animals (stuffed and plastic) their own time outs.

Today, over protesting the heat and fully clothed, Harper was lucky enough to spend some time out with Nana. Ann came and took Harper to lunch and then back to her place to get ready for a showing. Since it is end-of-the-quarter-crunch-time it was wonderful to have a couple of quiet hours to tap away at the computer.

Later this afternoon, after a wonderful time with Nana, all attempts to get Harper to nap failed and she turned into a late afternoon cranky beast. While in time out in a dining room chair she decided to test the laws of physics. I was mere feet away in the kitchen, getting some test results from the allergist, when I heard a tremendous crash. I ran into the dining room to find Harper on her stomach, under the table, screaming an "I am hurt and I mean it!" scream.

I gently lifted Harper, still screaming, from under the table, and immediately a drop of blood splattered on my arm. Her bottom teeth had cut the inside of her lip when she fell. Of course it took several minutes to figure that out, due to all the blood. In case you were not aware, the inside of your mouth? When you cut it? It bleeds. A lot.

I felt much better once the bleeding had stopped and I had determined that all of Harper's teeth were still firmly rooted in her gums. She felt much better once she was sucking on some ice cubes and getting blood on a washcloth, rather than the front of my shirt.

She now has a bit of a puffy lower lip, accompanied by teeth marks inside her bottom lip, and a skid mark of sorts on her chin.


After all the crying (and bleeding) had stopped, I asked Harper what had happened. She told me she stood on the chair and, "Just put one foot out and stepped wite (right) off."

I doubt she'll be doing that again. This week anyway.

Hide and Seek

I don't think Harper is alone in enjoying the challenge of fitting herself into small spaces. Children have fun playing in (real or imagined) forts and tents, places that feel private and cozy.


She likes to hide under tables and under shelves. She likes to hide behind furniture and behind doors. I know this about Harper, and yet I was not quite prepared for what I found in her bedroom this afternoon.

I went in to see whether she'd actually fallen asleep or not and discovered she'd emptied the contents of her sock drawer onto her bed. And separated all the pairs, because that is how a two-year-old rolls.



You might notice a suspicious lack of Harper in the bed. Apparently, once adorned with socks, the bed was no longer an acceptable sleeping space. So Harper did what any logical child would have done; created a nest of dirty clothes, retrieved the decorative pillow that was in the closet, and snuggled in under her changing table.


Because of the curtain that hangs over that storage space, we couldn't tell where she was at first. It is pretty unnerving to walk into a child's bedroom and not be able to find her.


Next time I guess we'll know where to look.

Before and After

Earlier this week we had two beings with very unruly hair living in our home.


Today, we only have one. And it is not Rebound.


Rebound looks so skinny after visiting the groomer and it cracks me up every time. Now we just have to figure out what to do about Harper's hair.

*****

Earlier today I found an old photo of Matt (age 5? 6?) and I thought Harper would get a kick out of it. I held it out for her to see and asked who it was. She didn't even venture a guess. When I told her it was Daddy, a totally shocked expression appeared on her face and she said, incredulously, "Daddy was a boy?!"

Overheard

Yesterday, while Harper was supposed to be taking a nap, I heard this little drama playing out in her bedroom. . .

Thunk!
(Sound of stuffed animal hitting the floor, having been unceremoniously launched from the bed.)

"Oh no! Ehyephant fell down! Where is my animal phone?" Pause. "Hehyo? (Hello?) Fireman partment? Come quick! Ehyephant fell down! Okay? Okay. Sank you."

---

Thunk!
(Another animal.)

"Oh no! Yehyo (Yellow) Bear fell down! I need my phone!" Pause. "Hehyo? Fireman partment? I need help. The bear is on the fyoor! Oh sank you."

---

Thunk. . .

You get the idea.

How About Some Swimming Pictures?

For the past month we have been engaged in swimming "lessons" at our local rec center. The swimming lessons have taken place from 9:30 - 10:00 on Monday and Wednesday mornings.

I think that learning how to swim is important. I think learning to respect the water is important. I think learning how to be safe around water is important. To a point. (We did not take swimming lessons last year; between vacations and school it just didn't fit into our schedule.) If it is geographically or financially or logistically nightmarish then no, your two-year-old does not have to have swimming lessons. I found myself asking quite often, over the past month, whether our particular two-year-old really had to have swimming lessons.


Here, in no particular order, are:

The Top Ten Reasons I Will Not Miss Swimming Lessons

1. The mad dash to get home from swimming, get Harper changed, get myself changed and showered, and be ready to leave for class less than an hour later. Two-year-olds become their slowest, crankiest, most-difficult selves if you are in a hurry.

2. How disgusting I always felt after getting out of the intensely chemically treated rec pool water -- this was no backyard pool. I would smell like pool even after I showered.

3. Wrestling Harper back into her wet swimming suit if she needed to use the bathroom before we left the rec center.

4. Being out in relative public in my swimming suit.

5. The way Harper practically pulled my swimming suit off of me every time I tried to get her to do anything other than cling desperately to my upper body.

6. The way Harper would yell, "Nonononononono!!! I can't byo (blow) bubbles!" loud enough for most of Ohio to hear.

7. The way Harper would yell, "Nonononononono!!! I can't put my face in!" loud enough for most of Ohio to hear.

8. The way Harper would yell, "Nonononononono!!! I can't put my head under!" loud enough for most of Ohio to hear.

9. The way Harper would actually practice a skill she was supposed to be doing with me, and then as soon as the very perky instructor came over she would clam up, refuse to move a muscle, and scowl at her. Charming.

10. The fact that is has been between 55 and 65 degrees at 9:30 the last few swimming mornings and we've basically turned blue and lost toes to frost bite when getting out of the pool.

"So why," you ask me, "did you continue to torture the child with swimming when it was cold and she so clearly wasn't interested in any type of swimming instruction?"

Because every time I told her we were going to swimming Harper shouted, "Hooway!!!" and galloped around, fists pumping in the air, doing her little happy dance.

Apparently she wanted to be in the pool. Even if it did make her face look like this most of the time:

Breaking Baby News

Nope. Not mine. I'll bet that got your attention though!

Erin had a baby!!!!!

Her baby boy was born at 8:40 (Central time) this morning.

He weighs 7 lb 9 oz.

He is 21 inches long.

And I'm not allowed to write the name, as Erin is kind of looking forward to revealing that over on her own blog. But I do know what the name is and it is just perfect.

Erin and the baby are both doing fine. I'm leaving other details out because I know she'll want the chance to set them forth on the Internet all on her own.

Welcome to the world little one, we're so glad you're here!

Scenes From the Park: A Study in Two-Year-Old OCD

The other evening, in order to offset a long and cranky day, Harper and I walked to a park with Auntie M and Atticus. Auntie M and I sat on a bench and vented/chatted, while Harper ran off some steam and proved two things about herself:

1.) If there is such a thing as a two-year-old OCD, she has it. Let's just say she is a little set in her ways.

2.) Her hair does some funky things because of the static on plastic playground slides.


So here's how Harper's "playing" went:

1. Scurry up the steps at one end of the playground equipment.

2. Look at the twisty slide and yell, "The ant is still there!" (Early on in her playground adventure she noticed a little ant near the top of the twisty slide.)

3. Run across the bridge, arms flailing, yelling nonsensical preschool syllables.

4. Stop at the giant tic-tac-toe board and spin a few pieces.

5. Sit at the top of the tall slide and yell, "Here I go guys!"

6. Slide down, using feet to keep the descent slow.

7. Lay down at the bottom of the slide as though exhausted.

8. Sit up slowly and look at Mommy and Auntie M so they can fully appreciate the impact of the plastic slide on hair.

9. Run across the wood chips, jumping on and off the raised platforms at the bottom of each slide, until back at the steps.

10. Repeat. For nearly twenty minutes straight.






Have I ever mentioned that Harper is a bit. . . particular?

Seven Things

This is how badly I've been doing at keeping up with things, about a month ago Mommy Daisy tagged me for a meme and I'm just now getting around to it.

Here are the rules:

Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

The last time I "tagged" people I'm not sure if anyone actually did it; so I will amend the rules to say that if you want to do your own seven things you have my blessing. Leave a note in the comment section so we can come read more about you.

Here are my seven:

1) I have completed two marathons. Both seem like a lifetime ago. The first was a great experience and the second was horrible. It is something I would like to do again in this lifetime, but I'd be lucky to run a mile right now.

2) I was, for a time, on the crew (rowing) team in college.

(I'll bet you never knew I was so sporty!)

3) I played on my high school volleyball team and we were state runners-up my last year. There are three children in my family (2 girls, 1 boy) and we were all on the volleyball team in high school (not at the same time). All three of us played in the state finals for a chance at the championship, but only my sister's team actually won it. Which is kind of nice for her, it's her thing. She was also homecoming queen, but maybe she can put that in her seven if she ever starts a blog.

4) I was a summer camp counselor for six full summers at a YMCA camp in Wisconsin. I loved every moment of it, except maybe the time a camper's parents sent her to camp with head lice and I was one of the many unfortunate people who got it. That part wasn't much fun. I was actually a counselor, then craft director, then leadership training director. There were cabins, a lake, archery, horses, a pool, hiking trails, campfires. . . the real deal. It was seriously awesome.

5) I love Mountain Dew. It is probably my worst habit. I am far to old to be drinking anything with that much sugar. I had nearly given it up and then I started graduate school. Five more weeks and then I will pretty much be finished with that excuse. Then I'll have to kick the habit for good.

6) I will always have soft spot for pop music. Debbie Gibson was my first musical obsession. In college my musical obsession switched to Dar Williams and she's still a favorite to this day. I enjoy all kinds of music, but my favorite is singer/songwriter stuff that tells a good story. I blame it on all those campfires.

7) I love to read and write. And I will read just about anything. I read a steady mix of adult, young adult, and children's fiction. Since I'm getting a school library degree I can pretend all that reading is career related. I'm one of those people planning to go at midnight next Friday night/Saturday morning and get the final Harry Potter book. I've reread the first six in preparation (it was all HP, all the time in June). I have pre-ordered copies before, but this will be my first midnight pickup. If I thought Harper was even the slightest bit old enough to understand what was going on, I would take her with me.



Tag -- your turn.

No Means. . .

So we've been pretty busy around here, entertaining visitors, taking exciting day trips, and just enjoying the summer. All the while school has been crazy busy and we also went through a period of about two weeks during which I was interviewing for a teaching position for next fall and frantically trying to figure out day care possibilities. Even as I type this, I am in the middle of two projects which are actually due, oh, later today (considering that it is past midnight and technically Wednesday already).

I am not, as it turns out, going back to work in the fall. And I'll even be mostly finished with school by mid-August and I'll have a little more time for leisure computer activities. So some of you will have to be patient (Dad, Kristin) if posting is a little light for the next month or so. I'll do my best.


While there is a lot to catch up on here at Midwest Mom, I have just one little anecdote to share tonight. Earlier today Auntie M reminded me of a funny thing that happened when my mom was here a couple of weeks ago. We were discussing the fact that so many children are no longer raised to be respectful, are never told they can't have/do something, don't use manners, etc. My mom looked at Harper and said, "Do you know what it means when Mommy says no?"

Harper struck her thoughtful pose, finger to chin, and didn't say anything for about a minute. Then she raised her head and said, "It means time out?"