Peaks and Valleys

The peaks being when I post a lot. Or even regularly. The valleys? Well, you can probably guess that is what we have been in around here lately. A posting valley. Sucked straight down to the bowels of it with lots of distractions, good intentions, unused vivid photos, and primarily a sheer lack of to-do-it-ness. Shame on me.

During these valleys, you lose. That is unless you think my blog seriously sucks on a regular basis...because to that point, you would actually win!

During these valleys, the dog, the toddler, the house, and the laundry win. The dog gets more attention during toddler nap time. The toddler gets more time with mommy out of or in the house. The house gets more quality pick me ups and less forget-me-nots. And the laundry not only gets done, but it also gets put away. Do you hear that people? Put away, as in not residing semi-permanently in a white plastic basket on the floor of our bedroom.

Such is life in a valley.

I can never stay away too long, though. It starts to eat at me. One can only do so much cleaning or laundry put-awaying before desiring a bit more clever outlet. So, today I am back to spend a little more nurturing time with one of my other babies...my blog.

To catch you up on all of the little things, here is what has been happening in our corner of the world:

• outings.  do we ever NOT do outings?  nope.  it is just our MO.  so, where have we been?  birthday parties, Smith's playground, lunches, the Franklin Institute, mom and tot swim classes, Barnes and Noble, the grocery store...you name it, and we have probably put our mark on it somewhere at some point!
• working on more words.  words that sometimes resemble real words.  words that sometimes are certainly and unmistakably real words. words that are sometimes just sounds used for a particularity with such consistency that you actually start realizing what they "are".  (ie "ass-is" for the word "outside") (ie "ah-hee" for "up please").  some words come out clear as day, and it is obvious that it happens this way because Finnley is so in love with the "object" that she NEEDS to get it all out right.  (ie, the words movie and cookie)
• an accident waiting to happen.  that is our daughter.  if one could trip over it, she will trip.  if one could fall off of it, she will fall.  if one could manipulate an accident out of nothing at all, she will manipulate.  the end result being a couple of scrapes / bruises on her forehead and in between her eyebrows... and a few head-bumps/headaches. I am thinking of heading to the bubble store to make a large purchase...
• thievery.  thievery of the absolute cutest fashion brought about by the sheer love of freshly baked cookies.  Finnley had half of a cookie for a snack yesterday.  she cried when I told her she couldn't have any more, as dinner was being served soon.  her solution?  sneak off to the kitchen and stretch her chicken legs and sinewy arms to their limit in order to reach up to the cooling rack perched on the counter and steal herself her very OWN cookie.  victory!  well, until mommy took back most of the cookie.  seriously...dinner time was coming soon!
• imaginative play.  Finnley is getting creative and showing brilliant independent play skills.  she has started to "diaper" her dolly, Amanda.  she "uses" butt paste on her.  she uses wipes.  she asks for help to get the diaper situated properly.  she also makes up her own form of play, such as stealing garbage bags out of the cabinet and using them to "decorate" the dog.  she has also fashioned her own "jewelry" and "head bands" out of the dog's collar, harness, and leash.  she is a freaking genius, no?  
• outdoor love.  Finnley is a girl obsessed, and I can't say that I blame her.  she is a sucker for a nice sunny day.  she would spend lunch time, nap time, and dinner time out there if we let her.  I'm glad to see it...kids should be outdoors!
• indoor love.  well, there are rainy days and poor weather still, so we need to like our sheltered environment, too.  the reason that "we" do have that indoor love is because of the discovery of MOVIES!  one movie in particular, Tangled.  since the day it was purchased, Finn has requested to watch it at least 3 times a day EVERY day.  mommy went out and bought three new movies for the purposes of remaining sane.  Beauty and the Beast is "ok"...but nothing holds a candle to her Rapunzel.  sigh...

Now hopefully you are feeling a smidge less neglected and certainly more up to date.  Or, perhaps you really didn't care...and given that, you probably haven't even read this far.  Either is ok.  I, for one, at least feel a bit better having given some time to this place that has always been a dear friend to me.  

Enjoy a look back in pictures at the last couple of weeks: