Post-Halloween Recovery

Today Shawn and I planned on tidying up the nursery, but what fun would that be? So we did a whole lot of nothing! In the morning, I got really aggravated because I took a shower and was so tired from doing just that. I was supposed to go get my flu and allergy shots after the shower, but I couldn't get myself to move. I ended up laying down for a nap maybe an hour after waking up. It's really getting hard to get around, and I'm not liking this much anymore! I don't like not being able to do what I want to do, especially if what I want to do is as simple as taking a shower.

After that, Shawn and Bridget went outside to play. What beautiful weather we had this weekend! Bridget rode her tricycle to the end of the block and back. They played catch with a small ball and colored with chalk. When Bridget came back in she said she "had so much fun!"

As afternoon rolled around, we remembered that we had to return a video and a book to the library, so all three of us headed there. Mom got two more novels, Dad got two novels, Bridget picked out two books, and Mom picked out two books & CDs for Bridget. Bridget didn't want to leave once she found the huge bean bags in the teen area. 

Then of course, we should have gone home and worked on the nursery, but again, what's the fun in that? So we decided we should have an early dinner since we had a late breakfast and no lunch. We drove down Route 59 until we found a restaurant we could all agree on, and of course, Bridget fell asleep just before arriving. So we drove around for another 30 minutes so that she could nap a bit longer. We decided to go to Ruby Tuesday's in the Fox Valley Mall because Shawn wanted to buy socks after dinner. Bridget was a little angel when she woke up. She was very well behaved at the restaurant, and she ate almost all of her mac-n-cheese. 

After dinner, Bridget got to play in the play area, which was packed with way too many kids. While she was in the jungle gym tree, some little boy just came up to Bridget, who was just laying down, and he began hitting her on her arms and stomach. Well, Bridget started crying, the other parents sitting nearby were stunned, and Shawn and I immediately ran to them and got the boy to stop hitting Bridget. Of course, his parents were nowhere to be found. Shawn talked to the boy and I guess he was saying that he hit Bridget because she was "a very bad boy" and Shawn thinks the boy must be beat at home. So we high-tailed it out of that play area, about a minute after the boy's father snatched him up and scurried away with his tail between his legs. 

We did a bunch of nothing at the mall. Bridget played at the other play area with no major disasters. I mostly sat on benches. Shawn went and checked out a few stores. We all stopped in the Disney Store and Build-a-Bear, but left the mall with no purchases. 

After that we stopped by Kohl's and Target with the intention of finding next year's Halloween costume on clearance. Shawn got his socks at Kohl's and I found a Dorothy costume for 50% off at Target. I think Bridget will get it for her birthday or Christmas, so that she can use it for dress-up play. Then if it's not too badly beat up by next Halloween, it may be her costume next year. 

By now it was 8 pm. Bridget was actually admitting that she was tired. So it was jammies, tooth brushing, stories, and bedtime. She was out like a light maybe 5 minutes after Shawn finished reading the stories. 

So now, it's relaxing time for me, and Shawn's drumming in the basement. I guess the nursery will wait until tomorrow. 

A delightful day

Bridget and I have had a delightful day today. Our morning started at the usual time, Bridget and Shawn were up by 7:30 and I waddled out of bed a bit later. We all had some breakfast and Bridget had a popsicle with her breakfast. See, a few days ago, Bridget watched an episode of Sid the Science Kid, and Sid made homemade popsicles out of juice. Last night, Bridget remembered that I said we'd make our own together. So this morning, she wanted to eat her creation. No problem, she had an orange juice popsicle-perfect breakfast food! 

After that, Shawn and Bridget went to the library for Lapsit and to select new books. I used that time to move toys from the toy box to the newly empty living room cabinet. When Bridget came home an hour later, she said she saw Miss Kathy, had lots of fun, picked out new books, and could I read the books to her. 

So we read books. She selected 2 Dr. Seuss books (78 pages each!) and one other shorter book. It took forever to read those books, but Bridget stayed focused on the stories better than I did. After that, she asked if she could watch the Dr. Seuss video she checked out at the library, and I said, "Sure." So she watched The Cat In The Hat. That was just a short video. After the Cat In The Hat, there was some other Dr. Seuss story called "Should I Fly a Jet, Should I Be a Vet" or something along those lines. The whole dialogue was just "should I _____", and various jobs were pronounced. Bridget said she's going to be a teacher, vet, hair brusher, clown, and elephant rider. 

Next was lunch. After lunch we colored some Halloween pictures. Even I colored a picture. It was actually really nice quiet time. Bridget can stay so focused on one task-it's amazing. After coloring, it was mandatory rest time, so I could nap. She stayed in her new room from 1:30-3:30 and was pretty quiet the entire time. She did get out of bed a few times to grab a book or a toy, but most of the time she was resting in her bed. 

Not so surprisingly, at 3:30 she was in pretty good spirits. The rest did her some good. So we finished up more Halloween coloring. Before coloring each picture, she'd say, "This picture is going to be for ___." And she'd then start coloring with that person in mind. "Grandpa's going to like my purple picture." or "Daddy likes pumpkins. I'll color him a pumpkin." She can be so sweet! I must say, her pictures are starting to look pretty good too. She is coloring different objects different colors, and doesn't stop until all the white spaces are colored. Grandpa John got a very special picture...Bridget attempted to write her own name at the bottom of the picture. Most people wouldn't recognize a single letter, but since I saw her as she was writing, I can make out all the letters, except G. She still struggles with G. And her E had about 10 horizontal lines instead of 3. 

Next up, Bridget wanted another juice popsicle. Ok, great, it was past afternoon snack time anyway. This time she had an apple juice popsicle. After that, but before dinner, Bridget played on her own. She spent a long time playing Connect Four by herself. She would just put the checkers in the slots and make designs. Then dump them out and start all over. She accidentally made the letter "L" with the checkers, and she thought that was really cool. Then she played a game where she put a little snack bowl on the floor, and tried to drop checkers into the bowl while standing over the bowl. Then she made up a game where she shot the checkers out from between her fingers by pinching her fingers together. They'd go flying across the living room and she was so proud that she could do that. 

Finally, dinnertime. After dinner, Bridget cleaned up her toys in the living room, then Bridget and I watched It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Shawn finally made an appearance to read a bedtime story and tuck her into bed for the night.  It's 8:30, and I think I'm going to bed for the night too. I'm exhausted. 

Here's a short video of Bridget's focus while coloring.

The end result. 

More photos from today are in My Mobile Me Gallery.