Nana raised boys....

And for the record? Jellybean is TOTALLY faking the injured look. The drama! 

L'il bean

So, she started out tiny (6lbs) and...not surprisingly, she's STILL tiny. In the 3-5% percentile for weight. Yup, tiny. We had a 5 month check-up today (purely to weigh her and make sure she is on-track) and she weighed in at a whopping 11lbs, 12oz. That's only a little bit more than a bag of sugar!!

Still, she's SO stinkin' cute.....


she's my little jellybean!

Random things

Did I ever mention that Monkey got to watch two Vietnamese PotBelly pigs being walked (on leashes!) in DUMBO a few weeks back? When we went to have brunch with Carey & Jody, a couple we love to hang out with (esp. since they are super tolerant of Monkey, for whatever reason...thanks mom, keep sending those checks their way!). How strange/cool is that? And that the minute we walked over to check them out, the pigs started pooping on the sidewalk? How nasty/gross is that? Um, yeah. And right before breakfast.

I may have mentioned that we had an early birthday party for Monkey and her cousin Emma back in Minneapolis, and that her Auntie Lauri and Uncle Jason gave her a set of Nemo sheets for her big girl bed? Did I mention that? Super cool present: Monkey lurves these sheets. She sleeps with the pillow case each night. No pillow....just the case. Well, Granddad Carter comes to town tonight to spend a few nights with us. And, since we got rid of the guest bed to turn what was the guestroom/closet/office/storage space into Monkey's "Big Girl Room" the only bed in there is a twin. With the Nemo sheets on it. Which Granddad now gets to sleep on. How cute is that?

And, while we are talking about rearranging the apartment for BabyGirlCarter#2, can I just mention that I keep having nightmares about where to keep the freakin' vacuum cleaner? I know, talk about pregnancy hormones and anal-tendencies run amok! But seriously, both Monkey and Ollie are afraid of the vacuum cleaner. So I don't want to leave it just sitting out (plus admit it, unless it's a perfectly clean Dyson on display at MOMA, vacuum cleaners are ugly). But it will have to move from what is presently the "closet" in what is to become Monkey's Big Girl Room. And I use those quotation marks without a sense of irony: this f'ing closet is only 7.5 inches deep. So it's useful for holding the vacuum cleaner, the broom, wrapping paper, and random things like a soccor ball and Ollie's pet carrier. We'll figure out a way to use it for Monkey's clothing (since I know Nana is not going to stop buying pretty dresses for her beloved insane toddler!). But still............the vacuum cleaner. It haunts me! Argh.

Community

There is a new restaurant in the 'hood, called Community Food & Juice.

Along with Nana, who graced us with her presence (and babysitting skills - suhweet!) on Saturday night, we took Monkey to brunch at Community on Sunday morning.

Two (ok, 3) things were of note:

1. It is necessary to get there early. 45 minutes after the place opened it was jammed with families.
2. The food is awesome.
3. I had completely forgotten how enjoyable it is to eat a meal, in public, without serving as the referee in a food-chucking contest!

Monkey ate her meal (big ole bowl of fresh fruit) and drank out of a real (plastic) cup and only threw, maybe, 3-4 cheerios on the ground!

I felt so civilized, I didn't even know what to do with myself. And, it was nice to not have to leave a 30% tip to pay off the staff for their post-Monkey clean up efforts, including bringing in the power washer to scrub down the table, chairs, floor and any surrounding surfaces coated in semi-chewed cheerios and general toddler debris.

Billabehuh

I got to laugh out loud, heartily, twice this morning.

First, I went in to grab Monkey when she moved from saying "hi," and clicking the light on and off in her room, into that keening cry that says retrieve me and feed me NOW or I'll cry so hard the paint will peel off the walls.

As I walked through the door, she popped up onto her feet to say "hi" and STILL HAD PONYTAILS in! She looked like Boo, from the Pixar flic Monsters, Inc. It made me laugh outloud, I was so startled at this giggling, goggling daughter of mine with her hair all messed up! (Nana babysat last night, and, well, she raised boys....)

An added bonus? After I took the ponytail holders out and brushed her hair, I realized I could leave the top bow in - she went to school that way! Ta dah. 5 minutes saved, right there. Awesome.

Second cause for glee??? Monkey said bellybutton this morning!!

I was kneeling on the floor, she was in the glider (aka the Big Girl Chair) and I was wrangling her into her outfit for the day. Once I peeled off her new footed jammies (compliments of Jason, Lauri and Emma who gave Dad a gift certificate to Century 21 - thanks guys!), she was clothed simply in her diaper. She reached down, peeled back the top of the diaper that was obscuring her belly button, pointed to her bellybutton and said....billabehuh!!!

Ok, so we need to work on enunciation.

But when Dad came into the room, she said "billabehuh" and pointed at his midriff, demanding an on the spot belly button inspection. Dad complied, of course - belly button patrol is an important part of each day in our household. Good times.