devious

i'm really anxious to get kitten out of her crib and into her toddler bed--mostly because i'm tired of having both a crib and toddler bed in her room. i'm ready to re-dec-or-ate. especially since i never really decorated in the first place. i just moved in after saying, "if you ever decide again that we need to buy a bigger house when i am 8 months pregnant you will not survive it."

the toddler bed works perfectly about 50% of the time; the other 50% of the time it's a horrible screaming failure.

yesterday afternoon she took her nap in her toddler bed and it was no problemo. the key is for me to sit in the rocking chair in her room and read my book until she falls asleep. as long as i do that, she doesn't move a muscle. but if i leave while she's still awake, then 20 minutes later she comes wandering into the kitchen with a handful of tiny plastic swallowable contraband collected from princess's room and a mile-wide grin on her face.

after yesterday's nap went so well, i put her down in the toddler bed again last night. i had to get up twice (about par for the course). i was alerted to the sound of her fussing over the baby monitor. when she didn't settle herself, i got up and went upstairs to check on her, and both times - i can't quite figure this out - she was halfway out of the bed with her hands on the floor. the first time i picked her up and laid her back down and she immediately fell asleep. the second time, as i opened the door, she said, loudly in the darkness, "uh-oh." i had to stifle a laugh.

well tonight, i say to myself, "it's time for the toddler bed. no more crib." i'm mentally redecorating, picking out the new paint color. bath, lotion, pajamas, brush teeth, story, rocking chair, and down in the bed. i settled in the chair with my book. she lays still for a while, then starts playing with her pacifier. then rolls over and starts playing with her sock monkey. starts kicking her legs in the air. babbling. bad news.

i picked her up, settled her back down and turned out the reading lamp. she thought i was gone. she laid there for a while, then sat up and threw her pacifier onto the floor. "uh-oh," she chirped. she's so cunning: as if to say to the darkness, "well look at that! my pacifier is on the floor. now i must arise from my cozy bed to retrieve it, which is surely a burden."

so i said from my dark corner, "nite nite! lay down!" she scrambled back to her blanket lightening-quick, the oh crap! look on her face practically visible in the darkness. a few minutes later found her turned around at the foot of her bed with the bedroom door pried open, peering down the stairs.

now it's an hour and a half later and after much to-do she's sleeping soundly in her crib. so much for the twin-size quilt bedding sitting perpetually in my shopping cart on potterybarnkids.com.

precocious

today kitten walked into the living room shaking a plastic container from her play kitchen. she had put something inside it and was pleased with her homemade rattle. i pulled her up into my lap and we played with it for a minute and talked, and then i opened it up to see what she had put inside. i dumped it into my hand, and looked, squinted my eyes, looked closer...

cat poop.

take, toss, reuse, recycle

so, i bought kitten some new sippy cups the other day. i had invested in some Nice Ones, but i was tired of rinsing them out over and over and the straw/lid mechanism was too involved for my taste. i like simple.

so i went to wal-mart and picked up what looked like the cheapest BPA-free sippy cups with the fewest parts. inexpensive, not a big deal if they get lost, and good enough to use until she can use the cute little melamine tumblers i bought. but i got it home and looked at the packaging and wanted to slap the designer right into a compost bin:

take and toss.

reuse and recycle.

you can't have it both ways, you dolts.

***

FN: apparently i'm not the first person to notice this little redundant gem, because as i was doing a google image search for a picture of a take and toss package i came across this blog post, and i stole his image. but i did have the common decency to rehost it.

the christmas story

as told by autumn, age 7

[enter autumn with towel and headband as Mary]

this is the story of why we celebrate christmas. one day an angel came to mary and said that she will have a baby and its name is jesus and mary did not know what to do but she was so happy and then one day she found out what to do and they moved all away to bethlehem on a donkey.

[exit autumn; reenter autumn with towel and tiara and gold belt as the Angel]

the angel said "don't fear, i'm the angel, god sent me here, i'm telling you the good news: it is that you are having a baby and its name will be jesus," and mary did not hear another sound.

[exit autumn; reenter autumn with towel and headband as Mary and Baby Alive as Jesus]

on friday she had her baby named jesus. they were all so happy. they saw him and they knew that they would call the birth christmas and jesus christ the lord.

[exit autumn; reenter as First Wise Man]

there were three wise men. the first one brought him a rock bracelet and one cool rock that standed for hope and goodness. there was an arrowhead from whenever someone shot an animal on the day that jesus was born, and there was a rock that represented christmas. jesus, i give you this.

[exit autumn; reenter as Second Wise Man]

the second wise man brought all kinds of stuff. he brought this [a key chain] which represented for christmas and for jesus. he brought a bunch of gold for jesus, too [celebration station coins], and he brought this that was really important (a woven doll shirt) that was his favorite kind of silk, and a rock that was important, and a shell from whenever his mother found it on the ground in her stable and she decided to keep it. and a marble that is a stone from the beach. and then this is shaped like a shark tooth if you hold it this way, and his mother decided to keep it because it looks like a stable, too. and another shell. i give you this, jesus christ the lord.

[exit autumn; reenter as Third Wise Man]

the third wise man brought an eye patch from long ago when pirates came. and then he brought a rock that was shaped like a heart. jesus, i present this for you. jesus christ the lord.

[exit autumn; reenter as the a Shepherd with a stick from the back yard]

there were also shepherds, they took care of sheep. and joseph helped whenever mary was taking care of jesus. but then there was other times whenever the shepherds had to do it by theirselfs because joseph didn't just herd the sheeps, he wanted to spend time with his son, too.

[exit autumn; reenter as the Angel]

that is what christmas is all about, my friend. and if you just think it's about that then it is, you're right. christmas is to celebrate giving and when jesus was born and that he was born. but soon whenever his parents were gone, they passed away. and when jesus was old, then he died. and other people started to get new. they made new stuff. and then soon indians came, and white people came. then someone else came to help them. that is what christmas is all about, my friend.

for grandma pat

the little brown school desk has been dusted, oiled, nailed and repaired and is ready for another generation of children. i thought you'd like to see it in situ at its new home:

this little child-sized roll-top desk originally came from my tahlequah grandparents. i have no idea where they got it, but it made the rounds between my sister and cousins and i during our childhoods, and then my cousin's kids had a go at it. it's a miracle it's held up so well - that's the same coat of paint it had when erin and i were banging it around circa 1989.

now it sits in autumn's room, and in a few years it will move to aislinn's room, and then...

please take note that the ellipses at the end of the previous sentence are not an invitation to conjecture upon the possibility of future offspring, which are at this time not imminently forthcoming, but i'll keep you posted.

i forgot to post the halloween outfit pictures, too

so pretend this post is dated october 31. happy halloween!

i forgot to post the raking the leaves pictures

so pretend this post is dated, like, november 4.