"Oopsh...ees ok."

Three "words" I hear far too many times a day in a high, breathy little Munchkin voice. At first, the words made the hair on the back of my neck stand up because I knew that something had gone horribly wrong. After a few episodes, I came to realize that the disasters playing out in my imagination were always a hundred times worse than the crayon scribbles on the table, spilled cereal, torn book pages or broken toys.

While it was frustrating and annoying at first, after a while it made me stop and think. She's getting into repeating what we're saying. She must have heard me say "Oops! It's okay" enough times to know that the world won't come to an end if something gets spilled or broken. This may not sound like much to you, but it's a bit of a breakthrough for me.

You see, I don't like messes. I like things to stay looking new. I hate when things get broken and I loath having to spend money to replace them. Why did I have a baby, you ask? Crazy, I know. But the longer I have one, the more I come to realize that things are things. You probably already knew that, but it was a lesson I needed to learn. I'm devastated when my clothes shrink or get a hole in them, my world crumbled when our car got hit for the first time (within 3 months of us driving it off the lot, no less) and my heart stopped every time Teagan got within 10 feet of our new microfiber couches with her greasy, grubby little fingers.

Enter our "new" couches.

We scored a MAJOR deal on a couch, love seat, chair & ottoman and a recliner. All were used, but in good condition. The fact that they came with scratches and a few spots of nail polish (nothing a convenient pillow placement can't hide) makes anything Teagan does to them insignificant. (I hope I don't come to regret that statement.)
The timing of my post couldn't have been better, as I had my own "Oops...ees ok" moment last night. I was dancing around the kitchen to One Direction (wait, that isn't the most embarrassing part) and knocked our griddle off the counter, cracking the handle. Wait for it...
Then WHILE apologizing to Brandon for breaking it, I went to put it away and dropped it, smashing the handle and one of the legs completely. 

Brandon just laughed it off. His easygoing nature is one of the many things I love and admire about him. I told him if the tables had been turned and he'd broken the griddle, he never would have heard the end of it from me. He never overreacts about anything, so he balances me out well and I hope one day to be able to adopt his forgiving nature and perspective. He always tells me that things can be replaced, and I always ask him if he's come into some money I should know about. :)

It's a hard thing to fight - I think I've always been this way - that is, concerned about things and the state of those things. I distinctly remember an incident on my 17th birthday. I'd received a pot of shimmery Revlon eyeshadow from a friend and was sitting on my bed applying it and admiring it. My Mum came in for one of our heart-to-hearts and sat down next to me, spilling the container, dumping 1/2 of the contents on my bed. I snapped. At my Mum. I freaked out. On my Mum. I'll never forget the hurt look on her face as she got up and left the room. I'll always regret my reaction over something so insignificant (in fact, I still have the eyeshadow laying around, unused for the better part of a decade.) SO not worth it.

It seems like patience and remaining calm in the face of messes come naturally to everyone but me, but I'm working on taking things in stride. I've taken to buying/using previously owned things, especially when Teagan is involved. While it doesn't fix my attitude or way of thinking, it helps me avoid situations where I might place things about people on my list of priorities. I think it's made me a nicer Mum and I hope to become increasingly nicer. When Teagan tells me "ees ok" it makes me feel like I'm doing a better job of teaching her that things are things and I'm doing my best to make sure she understands that as long as she's safe and happy, "ees ok." And that's what matters.

Code Brown.

WARNING. You're about to read a post about P-O-O. Avert your eyes if your constitution is weak.

You know the saying, "_ _it happens"? Well, it happened. The term "Crappy Karma" comes to mind as I remember laughing at the plight of my friends as they posted about their children smearing feces all over themselves. I'm not laughing now. Is it one of those things that all kids do? Is it just a rite of passage for children and parents alike? Well whatever it is, it stinks. Allow me to set the stage...

I was nagging my husband (as I am wont to do) to get out and run his Saturday errands (that is, early voting and a bank trip, neither of which I could do for him) before Teagan woke up so it wouldn't be just another day when the two of us are home alone together. There was a little dillying, a lot of dallying and even more research on political candidates, so sure enough I heard her yelp from her crib before he'd left the house. And boy was I glad. Merely opening the door to her room burned my nostrils. 'Oh, she has a poopy diaper' thought I. But where is it? Answer: the floor. Which was a blessing in disguise, because she apparently hadn't left herself much to work with when it came to smearing. But with what little she had, she managed to hit all four sides of the crib, the sheet and saved some for her feet, legs, hands, arms and <shudder>  face.

"BRANDON!" He knew something was wrong because a) I never call him Brandon and b) I was shrieking. He came running and upon seeing/smelling our predicament said the following: "I have to get to the bank before it closes." Needless to say, the joke was NOT well received. He hobbled to the bank after wiping down the crib.

Never again will she nap in only a diaper. (What? It's still hot here!) And never again will Buddy crack a joke (pun intended) when there's a poo-covered toddler involved. Hoping that's the end of it. That was one nasty milestone!

Booday partay

I am painfully aware that birthday parties have to stay the same or get bigger every year, and so we opted for another small gathering of friends this year, and specifically no no-ed presents. Apparently people love Teagan, because she still got some really sweet gifts. We have good friends. 

They even came in spite of me warning them that Teagan had a nasty cold the day before and was laid out on the couch for most of the day. Everyone braved it, and I'm glad they did, because she was well rested for the party. Only a runny nose remained, which completely negated the adorableness of her dress.

Like a good neighbour, Statens are there. That's our jingle for the Statens down the street, who we couldn't survive without. Whether it's borrowing a van or power washer or scavenging ingredients for things, Katie and Ryan ALWAYS come through for us. Today was no exception. Katie came early to see if there was anything I needed help with, and of course there was. She made the icing from scratch, with her own ingredients. Then, when I burst my icing bag (ahem, Ziploc) creating The Blob that threatened to take over the entire cake, she stepped in, scraped it off and finished writing Happy Birthday Teagan for me. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of the finished product, but it was a sight to behold. I'm going to skip the middleman next year and just call her to begin with.

Teagan's little friend McKenna came, and Teagan cannot keep away from her. Poor Kenna puts up with her, and Teagan will not tolerate indifference.

Her little friends seemed to have fun with all of Teagan's toys, while Teagan contentedly played with an infant carseat in the corner. A gracious hostess indeed. Brandon had friends to talk sports with and I had some of my dearest friends in the ward to commiserate with and wonder where the years have gone. She opened a colouring book and fancy crayons from the Headlees and practically fell out of her chair with excitement. Amy said she'd never seen such a reaction to a dollar store colouring book :) It was awesome. She loves her Rapunzel tea set from the Statens, and I'm sure Olivia can give her some proper tips on hosting a princess tea party. So sweet of them.

Cake and candles went over much better than they did with Grandma & Grandpa Richards - still befuddles me that she got so scared the second time. It was wonderful to have our house filled with friends, food and fun. Her best birthday this year!

My Baby Can Read!

Teagan read a book today. We're very proud.
In the interest of full disclosure, it was one of those books with a mirror on each page. So it went like this:

"Teagan...Teagan...Teagan...Teagan...The End."

We still think she's pretty awesome.

Tea for Two and Two for Teagan!

I know it sounds terribly cliche, but I'll say it anyway. I can't believe it's been two years! I blinked and missed the last 24 months. What did I do before I had a sassy little Mini-Me running around after me? Hard to say. But here's some of what we've been up to lately...

Pretending we're asleep. If you blink too long, Teagan thinks you're asleep and will put her chubby little finger to her lips and say "Shh. Deepin'." Then out of nowhere, "Cockadoodledoo! Wake up! Wake up!" Whether you're a page in her colouring book that features someone yelling with their eyes closed, a doll that opens and shuts her eyes, or you're praying, Teagan will find you and call you out on your "sleeping". Just a few days ago when we were Skyping with my sister, she told us which one of us was to fall asleep next, the first time she's directed traffic and told us to take turns. 

Dancing. More than frequently, we can be found having dance parties in our living room. Before you wonder whether your invite was lost in the mail, the playlist featured One Direction, Hanson, Nirvana, ABBA AND The Wiggles. Yikes, I know. But it's something for everyone and the three of us have a lot of fun parading around the living room. 

Lip Syncing. Ever wanted to feel like a rockstar? Mouth the words along with the Dora soundtrack, The Wiggles, or anything on the radio. I've never seen Teagan's eyes get quite as wide as when she's watching me lip sync to her favourite songs. She's absolutely riveted and it's so much fun.

Reading. The girl loves books and I LOVE that! It's been refreshing to come downstairs after starting a load of laundry to find her in a pile of books and not fishing in the toilet. (knock on wood)

Watching Bubble Guppies, Dora and Sesame Street. In that order. She's a bit obsessed with Bubble Guppies at the moment, and unfortunately we don't get the channel and there's only one DVD on the market. I have it memorized and Teagan's getting there. She has a few favourite songs that she dances along with, mimicking the Guppies exactly.

Practicing animal sounds. Some kids embrace colours, others take to letters and numbers, but Teagan loves animals and the noises they make. She's got elephant, lion, horse, cow, sheep, pig, frog, cat, mouse, duck, chicken, rooster, seal and a few others down and they're pretty hilarious. Click HERE to see a sample.

Walking around with our eyes closed. For months now, Teagan has been into sensory deprivation, closing her eyes and seeing where she ends up after a few steps. From time to time, she'll eat with her eyes close as well. She always manages to find her mouth - shocker. It's a little bit hilarious.

Sleeping. Teagan is the best darn sleeper there is. May lightning strike me if I ever find myself complaining about her sleeping habits. More often than not she sleeps 12 hours a night and takes a good 2 hour nap in the afternoon. That's right. She loves me. And I love her and owe her my sanity for allowing me to get rest of my own. We start every morning with "Good Morning" from Singing in the Rain. I sing it (with a few lyrics changed) as I switch off her nightlight and noise machine and pull back her curtains. She jumps up and down in her crib, all the while smiling and laughing...or pointing out where she threw her binkies for me to retrieve them. (She insists on sleeping with one in her mouth and at least one in her hand, sometimes two. On a related note, she's finally saying "binky" and not "dinky". What a relief.)

Being tall. Everywhere we go, people can't believe that she isn't two yet. I think that's mostly because she's usually with me, and heaven knows I'm not renowned for my stature. When they see her with Brandon, it makes sense. People constantly think she's older than she is, so I'm constantly defending her honour and letting them know that she probably won't answer their in depth questions. Based on her 15 month check up, the doctor predicts she'll be around 5'9". Must be nice!

Playing with friends at the park. She's a big fan of splash pads, as long as she's wearing her clothes and not a bathing suit, which keeps things interesting. The first time we went to a splash pad was in April and it wasn't quite warm enough to be enjoyed. I put her in a little raincoat and she had a blast. She looked more than a little goofy, but she enjoyed herself. She loves to slide, but her favourite thing to do is sit and eat snacks while watching her friends play. A regular social butterfly.

Loving each other. Nothing feels quite as wonderful as a random hug and kiss from my Teagan. I love feeling her chubby little arms wrapped around my neck. She's taken to saddling up alongside me and putting one arm around me in a little side hug. Love her.

Can't believe I have a two year old. Can't fathom how much I love her. Can't get over how much she amazes me every day with how much she learns. Can't be more grateful for her unconditional love and sweet, sassy spirit. Can't wait for tomorrow with her.

Teagan's Booday.

We weren't two hours into the day and I found myself misty-eyed. She's TWO! Two and, to this point, not incredibly aware of her surroundings. We've told her that her birthday's coming up soon and that didn't mean much, and we've tried teaching her that she'll be two years old, but she doesn't seem to take any notice. So while I was excited to celebrate her birthday, I didn't want to break my neck trying to make it memorable. We started off the day singing "Happy Birthday" instead of the usual "Good Morning" from Singing in the Rain. She surprised me by chanting "BOODAY! BOODAY!" over and over while I was singing. Then throughout the day she would sing "Happy Birthday" to herself at random. It seems she woke up today a big kid!

I had balloons waiting for her on the stairs and surrounded her with them while she watched one of her favourite Dora episodes so I could make chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. We She inhaled them. I busted out a party hat and party horn for a wee photo shoot of my two year old. Once she figured out which end of the horn to blow in, she was having the time of her life. She wore the hat for a long time, pointing at it and saying "booday" every time, and sometimes shared it with me - "Mummy booday." We had a tickle fight with the party horn that reduced me to a sniveling mess of emotion. Then it was off to the park with her best buddy and lunch on the run.

 

I spent the bulk of her naptime making cupcakes and putting the finishing touches on her birthday video...all while watching Downton Abbey. 

We arranged to Skype with my parents and sister in the evening so they could sing "Happy Birthday" and watch her blow out her candles. It was really sweet. I love seeing how much Teagan is loved by her grandparents, aunts and uncles. All went smoothly, and she enjoyed the singing and managed to blow out her candles after the third try. She didn't dig in like we thought she would, but once she got a taste of the icing, she sucked it all off. I convinced her to give me a kiss, which transferred a glob of frosting onto my nose. So naturally Teagan ate it right off my nose. Waste not, want not, my Dad said. We chatted with them for a while and showed off her new tricks - animal noises, "awesome" and the like.

Seeing as it went so well the first time, we thought we'd bring Brandon's parents in on the action as well and Skyped with them later on. To say things went less smoothly would be the understatement of the century. The candles frightened her half to death and she cried for the entirety of "Happy Birthday" and refused to blow them out herself. Even after her dad blew them out for her, she remained upset and clung to him, crying "Mummy, Mummy!" Poor little mess. Though, the presents seemed to ease whatever pain was caused by the second birthday cupcake.

Don't tell her we're having friends over for cake and ice cream on Saturday - she'll never get over it! Happy Birthday to Cap'n Teague. Love this little girl.

Teagan's "Birth Minute" Timeline

4:42 - tell Teagan to stop eating crayons
4:43 - remember what it was like to hear her cry and see her squishy little alien face for the first time at this moment two years ago
4:44 - start to cry and have my two year old wrap her arms around my neck and squeeze
4:45 - tell her to get her finger out of her nose. Aaand we're back.

Question: What do you do to keep a toddler entertained on a plane?

ANSWER: Whatever it takes. 

EXHIBIT A: Mum's face covered in stickers, complete with glow stick mustache.

Sixteen people on Teagan's last lap child flight on September 30th. Sixteen people. What a way to end our two year run of free flights. And a good run it's been. We've flown to and from Canada three times, Idaho twice, Seattle and San Francisco once. And out of those 20 or so flights (we had layovers on some flights and I'm too proud not to count them individually) Teagan cried for 20 minutes on one - waking up completely disoriented after sleeping for 3 hours. That didn't stop me from panicking for weeks before every. single. flight. Because weeks and months went by between them, she seemed a different child every time which sent me into a tizzy, printing colouring pages of whatever she was into at that particular time, hoarding stickers and glowsticks and packing her body weight in Goldfish, veggie straws and fruit snacks.
My in-laws were kind enough to lend us a portable DVD player and essentially save my life. Once we were able to use electronics, she was good as gold and just got better when the flights attendants came around with drinks and snacks.

It was the 15 minutes on either end of the flights when electronics have to be shut off that nearly gave me a heart attack every time. The take off and landing never seemed to bother her - when she was a baby it lulled her to sleep. The only problems we had were other babies around us - she's an empathetic crier. If someone's upset, she's upset for them. Sometimes there's nothing you can do, but when we could, we sat by ourselves so her heart didn't break for her peers. That and when she woke up from a deep sleep, she seemed to be in no man's land - not quite asleep, but not quite awake. This was on our way home from Toronto, in the wee hours of the morning and the people around us were surprisingly kind. I apologized profusely, but they all said that she was so well-behaved for the rest and that babies cry. The flight attendants actually asked a kindly lady sitting in the window seat if she wouldn't mind sitting in an aisle seat across the way so we could have a row to ourselves - seriously awesome. I've heard horror stories from friends dealing with less-than-friendly flight attendants and sitting next to cranky curmudgeons and thank goodness we haven't been seated next to many of those. One gentleman sat next to us on a Southwest flight when she was about 9 months old. We boarded with Family Boarding and he boarded in the first wave of the B group - this detail is important, because Southwest allows you to choose your own seat and he happened to choose the seat next to us despite the fact that the plane was essentially empty when he boarded. He had the nerve to ask me if she'd flown before and whether she was going to cry. She had and she didn't. I was happy to make him eat his words.
On several of the last few flights we've taken, we've been fortunate enough to have an extra seat for Teagan. Funnily enough, it hasn't been when I've flown alone with her. <sigh> She's not a small thing, and trying to keep her contained on my lap without encroaching on our neighbour's space was nigh impossible. On the way to Toronto (apparently this particular trip was fraught with difficulty) I was still wrestling Teagan at 1:00 in the morning, trying to find a comfortable position for her to sleep and glanced over at an Australian couple on the other side of the aisle with their toddler laid out across both of their laps, absolutely zonked. I confess, I was envious. She fell asleep eventually...and so did my arms.
While I'm not looking forward to shelling out the money for Teagan to have her own seat, but the personal space will be nice. The parental version of personal space, anyway. The parameters are a little different.

October 23rd - my due date, two years ago.

 Can't believe my "baby" will be two on Thursday! We've both changed a little in two years...

Teagan's Besties

We've raised a bit of a social butterfly. She loves her friends! She's generally friendly to everyone, but a girl has to have some besties, right?

We've made great friends with Natalie, Jason and their kids who live a hop, skip and jump away so we go over there A LOT. Teagan knows when we're getting close and starts yelling "SHASHEE!" (Sydney) "SHASHON!"(Carson) It's kind of hilarious. And the dramatic gasp I mentioned earlier? That started at the Giffords. We knocked on their door and when she hear footsteps, she gasped. When she heard the lock clicking, she hyperventilated. When Natalie and her kids opened the door, her excitement couldn't be contained. This was months ago, and she does it every time. A little ego boost for them every time we visit. While they're older than Teagan they always play very sweetly with her. She talks about them constantly and wanders the house saying "Shashee, where are you?" When we visited Canada, she popped up in the middle of the night and yelled "Shason, I love you!" Not soon after, Natalie told me something Carson said just before his nap: "I will grow bigger all by myself and I will marry Teagan." It's meant to be!

 

We have a beautiful back-and-forth babysitting relationship with our friends down the street, the Statens. Well, it's beautiful for us at least. They're our go-to people for last minute errands and quick trips that you'd rather not lug a toddler. on. We watch their cute kids from time to time, but if anything, it makes our lives easier. Exhibit A: How much Teagan and Livvy love eachother. (I know Teagan's "fair" but next to Livvy she's translucent!)

"OOK", a.k.a Luke is so sweet to her as well. He will drop everything and play with her and it's adorable to watch. He was kind enough to let her assist in choosing that evening's episode of Psych.

And last, but certainly not least, her good buddy Keaton. "Keat" is the magic word to get her out of bed in a good mood. The promise of seeing "Deat" as she calls him makes her pop up with a smile on her face. He is less than a month older than her, so they're adorable together. He's the smartest just-turned-two year old I know. He's really aware of his surroundings and the way he strings words together always surprises me. Hillary is so sweet to pile three car seats in her backseat and drive us to different activities and even take us to the gym as her guest. They live down the street, so we hang out a lot. It's so nice to watch Keat & T play with eachother and chat with Hillary about parenting triumphs and challenges, with them being at the same stage - of course she has more to worry about bless her heart, she has an 8 month old too!) We went to Chuck E. Cheese with them back in July and Keat was supposed to be in the photos, but jumped out of the booth at just the wrong time...twice! He's so funny - no wonder Teagan likes to hang out with him!

We are absolutely loving where we live. We'd love to have family close by, but the amazing friends we've made are the next best thing. Most of us don't have family near, so we all rely on eachother. So glad that my friends' babies get along with my baby and she gets to see so much of her besties.

Famous Last Words: "I do it."

Someone's been in an independent mood lately, meaning she does a lot of her own buckles and costume changes. Which leads to the occasional pinch and wardrobe malfunctions a plenty.

Even witches need a hug every now and then.

 

We've been watching the Bubble Guppies Fintastic Fairly Tale a lot lately, which features a mean, green witch. They show you a picture of her and ask you who she is, and expect you to yell "witch!" I'll just say that Teagan's been getting her B's and W's mixed up lately, so you can imagine my surprise when she yelled it at the top of her lungs...twice. Out of the mouths of babes.

Bathing Beauty

T loves to swim. Always has. I take that back - save her very first swim at 5 months when her Mum neglected to test the temperature of the frigid water, Teagan loves to swim. Anywhere. Like in a tote in our backyard. White trash, I know, but she didn't seem to mind.

We bought her a Puddle Jumper, which has foam water wings attached to a vest. It has been one of the best kid investments (can you call $15 an investment?) so far. It took her a few minutes to figure out how to stay on her front, and from then it's been a cinch. She loves the independence and is confident and happy being on her own in the middle of the pool - don't worry, I'm always watching...WAY too many drownings in Las Vegas for me not to be vigilant. Seeing how comfortable she is, people ask me about the Puddle Jumper all the time.

A neighbourhood nanny/certified lifeguard was offering swim lessons for littles, so we opted to sign her up, since it was only a few houses down and I thought it couldn't hurt. Upon hearing at the first lesson that her goal was to make the kids comfortable in the water, I realized that it might not make a huge difference to Teagan, but we went anyway. She was joined by two little ladies from the ward who are only a few months younger than Teagan, but make her look like a monster. They were so cute in their matching little coverups that we couldn't help but take a photo of the bathing beauties.

Perhaps part of the appeal of swimming is the constant snack breaks and delicious treats that accompany us every time, but she seems to genuinely enjoy the water.

Heaven forbid she see her bathing suit sitting out and we don't have plans to swim. Poor thing has insisted on wearing it anyway and wanders around the house in her swimsuit like a little lost sea turtle. But I know now not to put her swim diaper on until we're seconds from jumping in the pool. Back in May I learned the hard way that swim diapers don't actually absorb pee...but my friend's car seat does. To make matters worse, she was sweet enough to invite AND drive me to her pool party and I returned the favour with a wet, smelly car seat - sorry Britt!

We swam at my piano teacher's pool when we visited my parents and Teagan loved every minute. Without hesitation, she hopped up on the diving board and "jumped" off to her daddy in the deep end. Then she climbed up the water slide, slid down and "swam" over to the stairs to do the whole thing over again. We started out helping her at the top and catching her at the bottom, but before long she was doing it all on her own.

Oh and she loves her some hot tub. Her cheeks impeded the wearing of her life jacket slightly, but it did its job.

We tagged along to her cousins' swim lessons while we were in Moscow and bless my sister-in-law's heart, Tara looked after Teagan AND her son (3 months younger) in the wading pool because I hadn't brought my suit. Famous last words: "She shouldn't be too much work, she's pretty comfortable in the water. Poor Tara didn't have a second's rest between Teagan hanging out in water up to her chin, drinking water out of the pool toys and dumping buckets of water on Sam's head. Believe it or not, he was asking for it towards the end of the "game", not before she attacked Ben and Jessa once they were finished swimming. Who brought the bully? All I can say is thank you Tara for running swimming yourself ragged to keep my daughter from drowning. I'll bring my suit next time.

I'm so proud of my little water baby and hope we don't lose momentum while we can't swim in the winter. Although we did swim outside last week. Have I mentioned we love Las Vegas?

Mrs. PoTeagan Head

Micro Micro Manager.

Teagan loves colouring. Almost as much as she likes to supervise me colouring. Picture this about 4 times a day:

Teagan: "Cla?" (she's developed my British accent on a few words like "colour", "water" and "Grover". It's kind of hilarious.)
Mum: "You want to colour?"
Teagan: "Okay." (Like it was my idea and she's just humouring me.)
{hands me a crayon}
Teagan: "Ohs."
Mum: "Should I colour his nose?"
Teagan: "Okay."
{rests her head on the table so close to my crayon that I can barely move it}

If my colouring is satisfactory, we can move on to the next page and the next nose - she's obsessed. If it isn't up to par, she'll continue to point and say "Ohs" until it pleases her. 

She's micromanagement material, folks. I can already hear the lunchroom gossip about Teagan the Micro Manager. <sigh> I hope I don't get fired.

Tangled.

Little T has become much more tolerant of me doing her hair lately. A good friend that does AMAZING things to her daughter's hair told me that the key is to practice. Do something every day and they get used to sitting for you and you have more time to experiment and get creative. Well, half an episode of Dora and a package of fruit snacks later, her hair gets done. I haven't branched out much, just because her hair is so fine and I've gotten comfortable doing one style in particular. While her hair seems to grow really quickly, it still bears the scars of my failed attempt at bangs for her last year. So I took to using several little hairbands to pull it back, and it seems to work. I started out with pigtails, but it's long enough now that I can pull it straight back into the world's cutest ponytail.

She was fresh out of the bath and I was just combing it when I thought it would be hilarious to try. Never thought I'd manage a teeny little braid. I nearly cried. She was 2 months shy of 2 when I tried it. Where's my baby with the wee alien pigtails?

Let's hope I can get more creative in the coming days, but for now, her hair is out of her sweet (and often sticky) face.

Spilled Milk.

I know you're not supposed to cry over spilled milk, but how about a twice-spilled bowl of Rice Krispies? Can I cry now? (To be fair, the first time she elbowed it folding her arms for the prayer. I suppose I have to look past it.)