Voyages in Parenthood

Thank goodness I framed this photo well - I get a bit weirded out about posting bathing pictures to the internets! Too many weirdos out there. I love her eyes in this photo. So big! And I love her expression. She's just so darn cute! (yes, I know, I am not exactly an objective observer!)

It was a beautiful day here. After work and before dinner, Brock, Leda and I went outside for a little while. Leda swang on the big girl swing (the "weeeee" as she calls it) and ate a little of the last of the snow (let's hope!) We checked out the fish in the pond. I took pictures. I was looking at the fish in the pond when I realized how still it was, the reflection of the trees and house in the pond was so clear it looked almost as real as the real thing. I had to turn these photos upside down so that they look "real". They are the reflection in the Pond. I think they turned out pretty good (click on one and view it in large!) And if this face looked up at you like that, wouldn't you hold her hand, too? Here's hoping that Spring is here to stay!

I've been on a book kick as of late. Can't seem to get enough reading. Which is a good thing and a bad thing - I probably spent way too much time reading the past week than I should have. But it's been so long since I have really WANTED to read. I go through waves. I can go months (lots of months) without wanting to pick up a book. I mean, it's like I am allergic to them. I just have no interest what-so-ever. I even force myself sometimes but just can't muster the energy to read. So when I get into these moods when all I want to do is read, I tend to fall into it pretty hard. In the past week, I've read two really good books. At least, I thought they were pretty good. The Widow of the South by Robert Hicks is a novel based on historical events surrounding the Battle of Franklin, one of the last battles of the Civil War. The story centers around Carrie McGavock who's home has been commandeered by the Confederate Army as a hospital for the wounded from the ba...

I got caught last night. I started watching that Dancing with the Stars while feeding Leda her dinner bottle two years ago. I watched the first season, maybe a show or two of season two and pretty much none of season three. But when I heard that Apolo Ohno was going to be on season four, I had to watch. I could care less about the other 10 contestants - I'm all about Apolo! I don't think I would have ever given short track speed skating a chance had it not been for Ohno in 2002. Wow, what a fun sport. And I think he's hot! So, last night, I had Dancing with the Stars on while I was reading my book (another post for another time!) and waiting for Apolo to dance. Of course he had to be last! Turns out, he's training for this show WHILE training for Worlds. Love it! So, back to getting caught. So after the show is over, I debated with myself for about 5 minutes and apparently the really strange me won - off to the computer we went and onto abc.com to vote for the very firs...

Ah, the signs of spring. Sign number one, I've changed the colors for springtime! I love spring time! Signs of spring are all around us lately. Besides the 6 inches of sleet and the cold weather over the weekend, we had a few warm days last week and the ducks are back on the pond. And the fish are thriving (yes, there are fish in that there pond! That stinking heron didn't get them all after all (however, he did get all the mature gold ones! What we have now are a bunch of baby grey/black ones and one gold one!) Brock even saw a very confused robin on Friday during the sleet storm. Then we saw a bunch over the weekend, then LOTS on Sunday, one even flew into the picture window (he lived, thank goodness!) Then today, LOTS OF LOTS of robins - I really don't remember seeing so many robins before! We must have seen 20 or 30 hanging around our holly tree out back around dinnertime - they must be hungry because they were going after the holly berries (that they must have spent th...

Leda ate a banana the way you should eat a banana this weekend (usually we chop it up for her). She really liked eating it this way! Leda also ate snow this weekend! And my Buddha is still happy, despite the snow and cold weather! He must be thinking that spring is right around the corner. Just like the crocus that is now buried under 6 inches of sleet!

Leda has become increasingly more interested in the toilet, especially since her bout with the stomach flu (or whatever it was!) That was because Brock thought it was important to teach her how to pray to the porcelain god when she needed to get sick - and, she actually did get sick in the toilet once or twice out of the hundreds of times she got sick that week, so it wasn't for naught. And she's been a little bit more forth coming with us that she has a messy diaper - she still says no sometimes if you ask her, but she has begun to tell us on her own when she has a messy diaper, so that's a good sign! So, I took her out this weekend to buy a potty to train with. I hadn't a clue which would be better, one of those actual pottys, the ones that are at their level that eventually you can use as an insert in the adult toilet and use the bottom (after cleaning and disinfecting it, of course) as a step stool. Or should I just get one of those insert ones and just have her lea...

We have a very polite little girl these days. About a week or so ago, she began saying "thank you" without being prompted. She would point at what she wanted and say "peas?" and we would give it to her (depending on what it was and if it wouldn't ruin her dinner, because most of the time it was M&Ms that she wanted) and right after you give it to her, she would say "dank ou". She will say thank you for just about anything, and to just about anyone or anything. She says thank you to her toys, thank you to Mommy, thank you to Daddy and I believe I heard her say thank you to Duff today! And, if you sneeze, she says "bess ou". How in the heck do we get that to continue all her life? Because I know it will stop right around the time she turns into a teenager, or sooner, depending on the severity of the Mother's Curse I was given so many times as a child! But, let me tell you, it is so cute and warms the heart when she says it!

Grandma came to visit for a little while yesterday on her way to a client site. We were so excited and happy to see her, even if for only a few hours and a dinner! Leda was a little too interested in the TV during the photo session! Leda and Grandma and Daddy got to spend a few hours together and when I finished work (well, took a break for dinner! Very busy work day yesterday afternoon!), we had dinner and then Grandma had to head west to central PA for work! Short and sweet, but good to see her! Looks like we are expecting some snow tomorrow - hey, did you hear, my mother is in the area!* ;-) *For years, when my mother would come to visit, just about EVERY time she did (in winter months) it snowed! It was so bad that even my friends call and ask if my mother is in town when we get a snow storm! ;-)

I had a feeling I would not get tickets this morning for either show The Police would have in the Philadelphia region - I just had a bad feeling. Boy was I wrong! Thankfully! Wow. I got tickets! We are going to see the Police at Herseypark Stadium in July! WooHoo! I can't freakin' believe how quickly I got tickets - I think this was the fastest I ever bought tickets - had 'em by 10:03 - as did friends of ours (we had two of us trying for tickets and we both got a full set of tickets! So now we have a choice of two spots to sit in the stadium and have to sell the rest - anyone interested in seeing The Police in PA? ;-) So excited! Wow!