Mea Culpa

Time to bite the bullet, accept the rotten-mom award, and get back to blogging. We'd let the "to-blog-about" list accumulate to such an extent that inertia took over.

So, in a nutshell, the past 6 weeks:

Giant snow storm in late December, during which we decided Lizzie really did need winter boots. (She has them now and loves to trot around in her cowgirl foot-bling.)

Christmas in NH with all of the family -- great fun had by all, especially Lizzie. She was a trooper after catching a nasty cold on the flight northward. (She was also a great little travel companion -- Lizzie and I flew while Eric drove the sleigh to meet us.) We got back to VA jsut in time for New Year's. Sick baby = early night at home.

Cold January with a bit too much work keeping us busy, but also a number of exciting developments, including a new half-time babysitter/nanny, Kristen, who is just wonderful with Lizzie, and gives both of us time plenty of time for work; advanced walking techniques, especially a jump-up and run maneuver that keeps us on our toes; lots of jibber-jabbering and singing; dancing for anything (fridge farm, radio, CDs, doorbell, singing) that inspires. Good stuff (which reminds me -- we should get video of the dancing...).

Frigid February and snowmageddon-II this past weekend. Lizzie has decided that mittens are for losers, and snow is delicious. (Rather incredible how much she ate...) Despite the rockin' new jogging stroller from Lizzie's aunt and uncle, we've only been out for walks a few times since the new year -- even where sidewalks are cleared of snow, the paths are too narrow for the stroller. Oh, how we all long for spring!

Okay, so that's the chronological rundown. Now for the other mentionables:

- Lizzie got into Montessori! She'll start in the toddlers' room this Fall, and will be at school from 8:30-noon each day with an optional add-on lunch and nap to 3pm.

- Lizzie has a few new favorites: she's obsessed with necklaces (I don't wear them often, but apparently she caught on quickly), and will put anything around her head (including, regrettably, my underwear and bras, regardless of laundry-status). Kristen brought her some mardi gras beads, which she LOVES and wears all the time. She's also quite keen on hats (always has been) and points them out in books, demands them from visitors' heads (and ours of course), and constructs faux-hats of most anything (again, gets unfortunate at the dinner table when all food makes a pit-stop on her head (with a proud "hAT!" exclamation) before migrating to the mouth (or floor).

- A new favorite game is chase: best with daddy crawling or running hunched over with tickle hands and a low roar. Lizzie squeals with delight as she runs away, turning every few steps to be sure she's still being followed.

- Lizzie now give high-fives (thanks again due to Kristen for this one). She's quite gentle though, and sometimes just wants to rest her hand it seems...

- Remarkably, our little mess monster seems to have some manners -- she'll use (and even demand) a napkin or hanky for cleaning her hands/face/nose or wiping her tray when she's done eating (pushing the food onto the floor of course).

- The morning nap appears to have gone the way of the dodo. The afternoon nap is generally anywhere from 2-3.5 hours. Yee haw. Strangely, Lizzie still doesn't seem capable to staying up (and civil) beyond 7pm. Fine by us -- she's a solid 12-hour-a-night gal.

And two less wonderful developments:

- Separation anxiety was in full force last week and the week before, though Lizzie's already doing much better. She's very comfortable with Kristen at this point, and that helps a great deal, I'm sure. Still, it was rough for a while there, leaving the screaming baby each morning.

- It's baaa-aack... teething, that is. But you might say "I thought Lizzie already had eight teeth." And right you are -- four up, four down -- but now there's a molar (!?!?) coming through on the bottom right. This one was worse than most, so goodie -- only seven more of those bad-boys to go. Super.

That's all the news from camp so-far-gone, where the compost's strong, we're tired of cooking, and absolutely everyone is above average.