Adventures in Boba-land

I call this one - "Adventures with Little Teeny Bugs that Crawl in Circles"

"Fun with Empty Pampers Boxes"

"Too Cool for School"

"Snuggling with Masked Mommy" (don't ask me why - she did it)

While we're waiting....

So apparently life does go on, even when you're in escrow. Who would have known! And Boba continues to grow and charm and delight us all. Just so you can all get a sense of the joy that is my 18-month-old baby girl, here is a small sample of some of the words that she now knows and yells out regularly.

1. "Okay!" (said in a Filipino accent since this is Lolo Bob's favorite saying)
2. "Again." (sounds like "A-ginna")
3. "Box!" ("Bockthhh")
4. "Cheese!" ("Cheesh")
5. "Open." ("Uppen")
6. "Hat." (Surprisingly, "Hat.")
7. "Baby!" ("BEE-BEEEEEEEE!")

And our perennial favorites are what she calls my folks: "Bob", for Lolo Bob, and "Doe" for Lola Tess. We have absolutely NO idea where she picked up "Doe"; she just started saying it one day to Lola. And Lola loves it.

Other cute things she does now: whenever she wants you to do something, she has this hand symbol to indicate she wants to grab your hand (sort of an open/close type of thing), and then she leads you to whatever it is she wants - usually it's to open a door so she can escape whatever situation she's in, be it her impending diaper change or bedtime. Because apparently she finds both pretty intolerable.

One not-so-cute thing but still never fails to make me laugh: she throws things to show displeasure. As in, "No, Katrina, please don't spit your milk!" (*pacifier whizzes past my nose*)Or, "No, Katrina, please don't climb the table!" (*bottle is flung at the floor with a THUNK*) Oh, and if we still tell her no?? She'll find something even bigger to throw. Like her Fisher Price toy bus. Or Daddy's portable DVD player. Yeah, I guess cell phones are too small for her to make her point.

But she always continues to surprise us in the sleep department. Not so surprisingly, our trip to Vermont TOTALLY messed up her sleep schedule, and so we decided that since we were moving, it wouldn't make sense to try to train her to sleep in her crib now, seeing as we would be messing her up again anyway when we moved her to her new room. So, whenever she woke up, we would just take her into bed with us. (Well, actually more like one of us since the other would move into the other bed to give whoever who was sleeping with the baby more room.) Well, wouldn't you know it, she didn't need any help to get back into her sleep schedule! The last few nights she's pretty much returned to her old sleeping-through-the-night tricks. Crazy, right?? Although, now that I've said that, I'm sure she's going to start waking up every hour on the hour now. Why? Because I've got luck like that.

No slowing her down in the cuteness department, though. No siree. She's got that one down PAT.

The BIG News

"We're cute AND we've got the scoop!!"

Okay, I've left you all hanging long enough, I guess. I hate to say too much about my "big" news on a public forum because I don't really want to jinx it, and let's just say it's sort of in limbo - also known as ESCROW if ya know what I mean! - so I don't want to say much except that...

.....JASON AND I ARE TOTALLY FREAKIN' EXCITED ABOUT IT!!!

Well, you can probably guess what it is. I am both thrilled and terrified, because we are total newbies at this, and so everything is pretty much like the blind leading the blind. We have a great team helping us along, but you know, it's still completely intimidating!

Anyhoo, Boba is completely clueless that all this is happening, which is just as well because if she decided to, say, start talking about boys all of a sudden, or ask about the birds and the bees, I would probably lose it. Because dealing with the MASSES OF PAPERWORK that all this involves really makes me feel grateful for the fact that Boba's only coherent communication these days is limited to "Okay!" and "Elmo!"

(Is it true? Dealing with a toddler is easier than with a pre-teen? God help me, WHAT AM I IN FOR???)

Suffice it to say that my life right now is limited to this, to Boba, and to my job. No room for much else. I haven't even seen Dreamgirls yet. I am so out of the loop, it's ridiculous.

(Example of how out-of-touch I can be: When my in-laws were discussing how long the flags remained at half-mast, I replied, "Yeah, who knew James Brown was so important?" I KNOW.)

Thank goodness it's Friday and the one thing I have to look forward to this weekend is a body treatment at a local spa downtown! (A Christmas gift from said in-laws. A sign they love me despite my stupidity.) Woo-hoo!

More Snow-Boba

I've been swamped at work, so I apologize for not posting more pictures sooner. I wish I had more time to comment on these, but given the fact that I am stealing away 15 minutes to do this while I am still at work, I thought perhaps I would just post pictures, minus the commentary. These aren't in any particular order. Kinda goes to show what kind of state of mind I'm in. Here goes!

Daddy & Boba in Vermont

Boba gazing adoringly at her cousins at our family Xmas party

Poppy Tom & G'ma Julie

Aunt Kimberly & Mommy

Aunt Sarah & Cousin Katie

More pictures...this weekend?? Who knows?? I have a big announcement, but I don't want to jinx it so I won't say anything now. (No, I'm not pregnant!) 'Til then...ciao!

Happy New Year from Snow-Boba!

Greetings from the bundled Boba!! (who doesn't look happy here, but trust me - inside that parka she's cheering!)

We had a grand ol' time in Vermont last week, and I consider our greatest achievement after our journey to be the fact that Jason and I remain happily married. Anyone who has traveled cross-country with a toddler will know what I mean. Tearing a child away from the blissful comfort of his/her routine is like taking crack away from a junkie. Nothing good can follow this.

Ah, but I exaggerate. I truly did think that I was going to be more sleep-deprived than I have ever been in my adult life on this vacation, given Boba's past vacation experiences, where she seemed to think sleep was a silly option. Why sleep when you can scream and cry instead? For hours? It gets Mommy to hold you and rock you while Daddy does a maniacal dance in the background trying to find available remedies: Bottle? No. Book? Nope. DVD? Not now. Benadryl? YES, PLEASE.

(Confession: we did use Benadryl one night, but that was because she developed a cold that prevented her from breathing comfortably, and Benadryl lists "decongestant" as one of its uses. TRUE STORY.)

Anyway, the point being - it was a good vacation. A very good vacation. One where Jason and I actually got to sleep and hang out and relax. I KNOW, AMAZING ISN'T IT. Here's the trick: we slept when she slept! And napped when she napped! Ironically, these are the things you can't do at home, because you have a list of chores you have to get done when the baby's sleeping, like fold laundry or pay bills. Guess what?!? On vacation, you can opt out of those chores. Hence, we actually got some rest! Halleluiah!

Props and much gratitude to our hosts for the week, Jason's sister Sarah, her husband Andy, and their awesome daughters Emma, 5, and Katie, 21 months. Not to mention the lovely company and generosity of Jason's dad Tom and wife Julie (Poppy & G'ma Julie!). We all had a stupendous time. And now for the photos.

Yep, that's snow falling around us

Sledding with Daddy! WHEEE!!!

With cousin Emma in a box...too cute, right?

With cousin Katie. This was a rare moment for them just standing quietly. Usually Boba was mauling Katie with kisses or chasing her in order to do so. I think this is the cutest photo in the bunch.

More pictures of the holidays to come next week! What a change...I've got so many. So stay tuned!