Someone's in the Kitchen...

As little T gets older and is sleeping less and moving about more, I have to figure out more ways to keep her entertained. Especially if I want a minute to myself and have my hands free. I neglect myself the most in terms of eating. Correction - not eating. Thus, in order for me to grab a bite to eat when I'm at home by myself, that is, with no other self-sufficient individuals, I have to find all manners of distracting the baby.

Thing is, she sometimes gets bored easily. And just as soon as I think I've found a way to give myself maybe ten minutes to prepare myself a little something, Thevy's decided she's had enough and begins acting up. Or, she merely begins going where I don't want her to go, or touching what I don't want her to touch.

One of the ways I temporarily capture her attention when I'm in the kitchen is to place some objects on the floor for her to hit, bang, throw - whatever. Sometimes it buys me time. Sometimes it doesn't.

Escape Artist

It's official: Thevy, for sure, can get out of her crib. We saw it coming, I suppose; the way she'd lean over the side and use her prehensile toes to gain leverage and lift herself up off the crib mattress. But we didn't think she'd actually manage to really get herself up high enough that she'd tumble right out! At least, not this soon!

See, Thevy's crib is mostly used as a playpen of sorts, as she still sleeps in the bed with us. It's where we put her when we need to free up our hands to do something else and be sure that she's out of trouble. Only in rare instances does she actually sleep in there.

So, while being detained in her crib, we often don't raise the side railing, as it's only a temporary prison and we aren't trying to make it maximum security. However, this idea must change. As she gets older and taller and much more mobile, it's time to... raise the bar! One reason I never usually have the side railing raised is because on those few occasions where I do place an already or almost sleeping baby in the crib, it's easier to lay her as closely to the mattress as possible if the railing is lowered. Otherwise, I'm much more likely to drop her in (and I have - not on purpose! =P) with it up.

Anyhoo, when Thevy's had enough of being in the crib and wants out, she begins fussing. She cries, she faces you, she places the side of her body on the side, trying to lean right on out. Her feet find their place on the slats and make their way up. I looked and her and thought, this girl is really trying to get out! I make her get back flat on the mattress so I can run for the camera and run back, in time for the shot you see above! Only seconds later, homegirl tumbles right on out! Luckily, I'm close enough to catch her before she falls, not to mention, there's an object beside the crib that, I think, would have or did help break the fall.

This girl is a handful, to say the least! She's our little escape artist. Even when she was much younger and we were still swaddling her, we called her Baby Houdini. She would never stay swaddled for long. Moments after wrapping her up in a blanket, one arm would pop out. Then the other. She's real determined, I'd say. I wonder how much this says about her budding personality. :)

The Zoo Again

This weekend, we visited the zoo again. This time we went to DC's National Zoo. It was a sunny day a chilly. But it wasn't as cold as it was at the Baltimore Zoo. Again, T's too little to appreciate everything, but we still wanted to do a family outing. The zoo was better than the last time I went there somehow. We didn't see the pandas; the line was too long. At the point, we decided we had better head home since it wasn't particularly warm and Thevy seemed to have had enough. Plus, though the zoo is free, parking isn't. Wanted to leave before we entered the next time increment, meaning, it costs more. . . (Check out T and that pointer finger. She's been touching objects with her index finger or just shaking it, seemingly at people. When she sees a child, her finger starts waving and she goes, "Ey!" lol)

Another Warm Day...

The Robins are here, too. I saw mosquitoes yesterday. Red ants were crawling on the ground. Looks like the seasons are officially changing. Or maybe not. The news people say to curb our spring fever. Today was a nice day to take the little one out. This would've been perfect weather for the zoo. We went the weekend before last for the opening weekend off the zoo. It was sunny out, but it was quite cold. I swear T's lips were turning blue. And it wasn't a great outing. It may have been because it was so cold, we didn't want to stay. Or if it just seemed that the zoo had nothing to offer because we weren't familiar with the layout or what. But it was rather disappointing. Who knows; maybe my expectations were just too high or because I'm not a kid anymore. But we went cuz it was free that weekend.

So, we did the Baltimore Aquarium and the Baltimore Zoo. We plan to do the National Zoo in D.C. since it's always free. And the National Aquarium in D.C. is a possible outing. I know I didn't care for the National Zoo the last time I went. Hopefully, more animals will be out and about. And healthy! Last time I went was with my sister a few years ago and there was a lame camel. So pitiful-looking.

Thevy stood the other day. On her own. I mean, there are times when I try to prop her up on her little feet and "force" her to stand, letting go, hoping she'll last several seconds. But this time, my attention was turned away from her and on the TV. She was on the floor, sorta crawling over my thigh. When I turned back to her, she had pulled her self to a stand, holding on to a wrought-iron planter. I wasn't sure how she did it, actually, without pulling the planter over. Then she let go. And for just a moment, she was balancing on her feet without any support. Mommy and Daddy got excited because soon, our little one will be walking bipedally. :)

Here, she's standing in my boots:

What a Winter

What a very mild winter we've had! Can you believe we hit the 70s? The other day when I was ready to go get the mail, I thought I might take little T for a stroll around the block. After walking down the driveway wearing jeans I thought, "It's hot" and went right back inside.

Saturday, we went to the mall to get a gift before heading to a restaurant to meet Tammy and crew for Tammy's 24th bday. Thevy was a hit as usual. Her pink onesie and cute little white skirt were all the rage, lol. Oh, and can't forget the pink headband that we couldn't get to stay in her hair, mostly cuz she kept yanking it out. We met Jeannie and Nick at the mall, too, and got some grub at the food court and chatted a bit before heading out to the restaurant (which was a sushi place by the way - not a personal favorite! I mean, the restaurant is nice, but not my choice of cuisines!)

And gooood grief! Peter decided to partake in sushi for the first time. I'm talkin' the raw fare. *gag reflex* Oh, and check out what else he had, in the picture to the right. That's just not kosher, now is it? :-P I stuck to eating California and cucumber rolls. And the Popeye rolls minus the shitake (it had string beans and spinach and came with a sesame sauce). None of that exotic stuff for me. I don't even hardly eat cooked seafood, especially not fish. I don't think the next logical step would be for me to eat it raw. =P I believe the most "exotic" I've ever eaten was a *cooked* piecce of squid. I wasn't bad. Just rubbery. Heh.

And Thevy had some tofu from the miso soup and the plain tofu Michelle requested for her. I mixed the tofu with her baby food and she was lovin' it. She was also makin' a mess since I let her feed herself a bit. Sorry to whomever had to clean up after her. :) Also, Thevy was sort of the life of the party. Once again they played "Pass the Baby" with her. I don't know how many people held her, not to mention, I didn't even know who they all were! Only now that she's older am I okay with different people holding her, since she's had all of her first round of vaccinations and what not.

Note to those unfamiliar with handling babies or dealing with other people's children: keep your distance! Haha... Well, I just mean, don't take liberties with the child if it's not your own. That is, don't be kissin' on 'em and what not and touchin' all over 'em. A first-time mother and mothers of very small children can be germophobes! Plus, it's just plain rude! Imagine if somebody you weren't all that close with just came up and kissed you! If you're gonna kiss the baby, go for the cheek. Not smack dab on the mouth! We don't know what kinda herpes you got! =P And hey - maybe you might get herpes from the baby! Also, be sure to wash your hands or sanitize them before you lay your hands on someone's bundle of joy. You don't want them to have to ask you, lest you get offended! I liked how when I first brought Thevy home, my friends instantly went to the bathroom to wash their hands. Yet Peter's friends, it didn't even occur to them! What is up with that?

Nice Weather We're Having Here

We continue to have crazy weather. It's rather nice for it being wintertime on the East Coast. It's still quite cool, but it's mild and sunny out. I'm not complaining. But I wonder if we'll get another good snow in before Spring officially arrives...

Funny quote of the day: I just heard William H. Macy, who has a huge film credit list to his name, say, "I'd eat that" in reference to his wife. First, I didn't even know his name before today, though I'd seen him in different movies. Second, didn't know he was married to Felicity Huffman. But back to the quote, I don't feel like explaining the context, but it was funny to hear cuz it reminds me of something a friend of mine, Jason, used to say. Sort-of an inside joke...

As is customary of my actually speech pattern, I'll probably hop from topic to topic in this blog. Like, I forgot to mention how maybe a couple months ago, I do believe I saw Tony Dorsey from NBC News 4. He was inside a news van outside Union Station. If I hadn't been inside a moving vehicle, I might have dared talk to him. hehe.

Oh, a couple weeks on Jeopardy, I was annoyed by one of the clues. It was Teen Jeopardy, and I guess the writers of the "answers" were trying to be hip and there was a category that utilized some colloquialisms. Well, this one clue was so stupid to me - it was: "Spanish: This basic word for friend--you know, your buddy, your dawg, your boo". And the answer/question was "What is 'amigo'?" That was one of the dumbest, poorly-written clues... They need some quality assurance for what they write! "Boo"??? Now, that does NOT simply mean "friend". It's not even equivalent to "dawg"! It just has a different connotation. *smh*

That Apollo Ohno kid - I "smh" @ him, too! Just because he's cute and has got that track of pubes on his chin, doesn't mean he should look a fool after winning a gold medal. Now, maybe he was caught up in a moment or whatever, but that fool did not seem to know the words to the "Star-Spangled Banner" and was tryna sing or lip-sync to it. Way to represent! :-P

How come on the news yesterday (on NBC4), they were talkin' about Bush's travels, referring to them as Southeast Asian trip? They mentioned India and Pakistan. Now, where does Southeast Asia come into play? The Indian subcontinent is SOUTH Asia! My ears perked up at the mention of SEAsia cuz I thought they were gonna say something about Vietnam or Thailand or something. Or that at least, he was headed there after India and Pakistan. I didn't hear it. Well, it's good to know we have accuracy in the news on just simple things... :-|

Thevy recently turned 10-months-old. Not long before her first birthday - need to make plans soon!