The Tiny Acrobat, the Naughty Puppy, and the HIPpopotamus

No, the circus is not in town, its just been a bad week over here at Club Maddox.

The Tiny Acrobat: Mary Aplin is a little over 6 months old. She is sitting on her own for brief periods, babbling here and there, and cutting teeth all over the place. She is still standing like a champ, and today I put her in a high-chair for the first time to eat her breakfast. As you can see, she was pumped. I wish I could report her height and weight, but we're running a little late on that 6mo. check-up. Last appointment (4mo) she was in the 90th percentile for height and the 60th percentile for weight, so I know she is not in any kind of danger, but she just looks skinny to me. Give me some rolls, some sweet meat, a rotund belly, and several chins!!! Pace was a chunker and I just can't get used to my light-weight. So, don't tell the LaLeche League, but I've started doing a little supplementing once a day while also trying to nurse for longer periods (and hopefully build my own supply).

Now, she may be thin and she may not look very agile, but I am here to tell you that M'Apples is channeling Jackie Chan whenever I turn my back. In the past 2 days she has hurled herself off the bed THREE times. I know you are all shaking your heads in disapproval, wondering how I could be so negligent, but the first time she was STRAPPED in to a baby seat on our bed watching Baby Einstein. Jeremiah and I were eating dinner when we heard a loud thud and ear piercing screams. We bolted to the room to find an empty baby seat, with buckles still fastened, and M'Apples face down on the hard-wood floor. Fast forward to the next morning, when I lay Mary Aplin on Pace's bed, with her feet facing the edge, and squat BESIDE her to pull Pace's dress over her head. The next thing I know, THUD. There she is face down again, but this time with a slight scratch and knot on her forehead. Finally, that afternoon, I was confessing to Jeremiah about the second spill she had taken on my watch. He looked at me like, "How in the world?" and then agreed to keep an eye on her in our room while I finished peeling potatoes. Jackie Chan came whipping out for her third showing and taught her Daddy a lesson about thinking that Mommy doesn't pay close enough attention. She's sure to point back to this post in about 13 years when she makes a bad grade on her math test.

The Naughty Puppy: That picture shows Pace acting all sweet and innocent with Avery, Brett and Ashley's new puppy. Don't be fooled! On Tuesday, she received not one, not two, but FIVE spankings. You know how many pets will act out--strewing the garbage, chewing up your new shoes--if they aren't getting enough attention. Well, apparently Pace got a little too close to that puppy and picked up some similar behaviors. She pulled out half a box of garbage bags and scattered them all over the kitchen, sprinkled some of Mary Aplin's sticky baby formula on the bags and the floor, unloaded a cabinet in the breakfast room and broke a picture frame in the process, tucked several wipes under the sheets in our bed and made a nice wet spot, and then came to me with chocolate around her mouth, on her fingers, even in her molars, and when I asked her repeatedly if she was sure she hadn't eaten any chocolate came back with a very staunch "NO."

Then there's the potty training aspect of our life at present. I have often said that raising a puppy is harder than a baby, because at least you can put a diaper on a baby. Well, not when they're potty training! I don't want to potty train. I know she will figure it out one day, but she has been begging me to let her wear big girl, princess panties, ever since she saw her little friend Natalie wearing some. I started to feel like I was stunting her progress, so I agreed to the panties. On Monday, she tinkled all in her high chair at breakfast (the panties and dress had only been on for about 5 minutes), which had to be dis-assembled and washed. So we took a break and went back to diapers for a few days. Then today, she convinced me again. Things went pretty smooth all morning, and then I got a little cocky. I had to go get the oil changed/tires rotated, so I took my diaperless wonder along. I asked her when we got there if she needed to go to the potty...was she sure?...did she just want to sit on there and try? I received adamant no's to all these questions. So, I'm jiggling M'Apples on one knee while Pace is sitting in another armchair looking at a magazine when I notice that Pace is saying something about being all wet. Sure enough, she peed all over her dress and the chair and starts screaming "Don't spank me Mommy! I just tee-teed!" (Just so you know, I have never spanked her for having an accident of this kind, but she could see the cloud come over my face.) Fortunately, she had spilled a glass of water on the floor a few minutes before, so I was able to honestly tell the maintenance man that I was so sorry, but my little girl had spilled her water. I mopped up the chair, scrubbed it with a wipe and said a little prayer that that would disinfect at least some and proceeded to the parking lot to strip Pace of her clothes and bathe her with wipes.

The HIPpopotamus: That would be me. I tried to put on a dress this morning, that I wore for my college graduation, and as my Easter dress after I had Pace (that's it in the picture). I got it zipped, but it was so tight on my hips that I felt like I was listening to a clock tick away a count-down of how long I had before the seams burst open. The butt cup was just, well, WAY too cupped. It was depressing. After much consideration, I have decided to blame the weight on the Tiny Acrobat. If she would nurse more I could burn some more calories :)

Just put a tent up; it's a circus.