Rigged.

As I mentioned, the last fix on our kitchen was the trash cabinet. It wasn't originally designed to hold the trash cans. Once I saw the drawings, I suggested to Glen that we take out some drawers so I could have a place for the garbage, and he said sure. But then it didn't happen, and four drawers showed up at my house on cabinet day. If we'd done a better job of planning it, the cabinet would have been an inch or two wider, to accommodate two average sized cans. It ended up being about 12 inches wide, which is not very big at all. HOWEVER, I did realize that most cans are tapered, so the bottoms fit fine two deep, but the handles and edges are what make it impossible to push the cabinet in or out.

But, because I am solution oriented, and because trash cans are about functionality over looks, I fixed it today, using some kitchen shears for the cheap can I got at Big Lots, and some garden shears for the durable Sterilite that's been housing our recycling since we moved in.

Awww yeah, who wants to come and throw things away? I know I do. PLUS I left one handle on the recycling bin, thus insuring that Tim will have no complaints about taking out the bottles and cans (though, if he knows what's good for him, he'll save his complaints. Management don't care around here.)

In other news, we had to buy wet cat food today, so Ellie got to pet a rabbit at the pet store. She was about as cute as could be, and the rabbit actually seemed excited to see her (we were there early, so he was getting his cage cleaned.) Then at music class, during one of the quieter songs, she and Lexi stood embracing for a good two minutes, complete with a couple of kisses. After class they were sharing some snacks, and Ellie goes "Lexi loves me. She's holding the blueberries so I can eat them," and Lexi goes "yeah, I love Elizabeth!" They are true love forever.

Lastly, today during music class, our "play along" song was about playing in the kitchen, so Miss Elena brought a bunch of pots and pans to bang on. Ellie was initially sad that there was no triangle to play, but she later found a funnel, but it on her head and solemnly said "it's my birthday! This is my birthday hat!"

Dr. Ellie Dolittle

The best errand we run on any given week is a trip to the pet store. There's one near our house where we can get wet food and cat litter. That place usually has several rabbits for sale, plus a binny pig or two and some fancy rats. It's smaller, and so a lot of times if it's quiet, one of the ladies will let Ellie pet an animal. She thinks it's the best ever. But some weeks, we have to drive up to PetSmart to get the cats their fancy new dry food (good news: Thor hates the prescription diabetes food, so that saves me some dollars. Not going to pay a premium if he won't eat it!) PetSmart has plenty of binny pigs, with the bonus of birds and fish to stare at. And yesterday, it was a super thrill - the doggy day care dogs were out in a big glass room playing.

Ellie probably stood there for ten minutes, hollering with joy at all of them. The Springer came and sat right next to her on the other side of the glass, and she wisely declared "I love him, he's my favorite." Not her favorite - the giant German shepard who ran over and barked at her. I can't blame him; she's a tender morsel.

It's the best way to kill a half hour. She gets to wander around and smile and squeal delightedly at all the animals, I get a chore done, and she has stories to tell everyone for the rest of the day.

This morning during cat snuggling time she once again informed me "he's not your baby kitty mama, he's my baby kitty." Fine kid, then YOU learn how to inject him with insulin twice a day. It still blows my mind that six months ago, I couldn't get she and Thor in the same room. But now it's true love forever.

Also, she loves her some Timothy Joseph. I do too, but I just didn't get a sticker.

Amusement.

Our new going to bed routine has really been working well for all of us. Ellie gets a lullaby, we sit with her for a few minutes and then pat her on the back and head out. She's not even whining about it any more. At nap time, I usually lay her UCLA blanket over her to keep her warm. At night, not so much because she's in fleece jammies and her fleece sleep sack. Her blanket is folded at the end of the bed though, and for the past few nights, sometime after Tim leaves, she's been crawling down to get it and throw it over herself. It ends up bunched up by her head, more as a security blanket than a warmth provider, but it's pretty cute.

We continue to talk a lot about the impending arrival of her new brother, which she doesn't really understand. I mean, she's two and I don't expect her to get it. But we talk about how things are going to be once he's here. The other night I was changing into my pajamas, and since she has no concept of privacy or personal space, she was about four inches away from me, yapping away. Then all of a sudden she goes "I used to drink milk from you. When I was a little baby. But now I'm a little girl. I drink cows milk." GOOD TO KNOW. She also sees little babies nursing at our mommy class lately, and will tell me that her brother is going to drink milk too. Hopefully she'll be as cool about it when it actually comes time for me to nurse him, instead of having her in my lap all the time.

She also continues to obsess about "what are we going to do NEXT!" She likes to discuss the day the minute she gets up, and will continue asking about what we're gong to do NEXT as I'm getting her ready for bed. Lately she also likes to ask questions with really obvious answers - every morning she asks me "is that a bird house?" when she looks into our back yard. We're currently working on turning the questions back to her and telling her "if you know the answer, you can just tell me, you don't have to ask!" Because otherwise, she will happily ask me the same question a half dozen times in rapid fire succession. And she's impossible to ignore. The best is that when I say "what do you think it is?" she always ends up just doing her "I don't know/I don't want to tell you" grunt, and then goes "it's a birdie house. For little birdies."

Moving on, yesterday was my college roommate Pari's baby shower. She's due with a little girl less than two weeks before Lambeau's expected arrival, so that's been very exciting for the two of us. Just like always, she makes me do something first so I can later talk her through the process. The party was up in LA and started at 2, so we ended up leaving Ellie to nap at Gigi's house (not Grizz's house, GIGI'S HOUSE) and Tim and I had an afternoon and an evening out. We did get crap from Pari's parents for not bringing along their favorite two year old. It was a fun time though, and the first time that I've seen our friend Chris in a million years.

The old crew, now with three out of the four of us as parents (or almost parents.) Fluff, Megara, Asshead and Loser. We are very good with nicknames.

Tim and I ended up getting dinner at a Salvadorian place just down the street from our old apartment. No matter what, we always seem to end up in Culver City when we head to the Westside. Sure, there are fancier places to eat, but somehow visiting our old haunts always makes us happy. It's been raining here and when we drove in it was so clear that I knew we'd have been able to see the Hollywood sign from our old apartment window - we joked about going up and knocking to see if they'd let us check out the old dump. Maybe our old keys would even work! Funnily enough, on New Years Eve Tim got a call at 3 in the morning and I answered it because it said something about "home/downstairs" and in my sleep addled state, I thought it might be his friend Cory, because it was a 310 area code. It was actually just someone standing outside of our apartment building, trying to find someone. Apparently his cell phone is still in the code box, if you punch *75.

Wednesday.

Wednesdays are usually good days around here. We have music class in the morning, but not until 10:30, so that gives us plenty of time to get up and get ready, without any crazy rush. And most mornings we get to the community center early enough to head up to the play ground and play for awhile. Today Ellie must have climbed up and gone down the big tunnel slide a half dozen times. She is a brave little monkey.

Then music class, which is always fun. Today we even got to use the parachute, which meant Ellie and Lexi were underneath, screaming with joy. Plus we played with sticks and had our usual play along (the second to last song, where Miss Elena dumps out a huge box of instruments and the kids go nuts. Ellie has wanted the triangle the past few weeks. I prefer to play the spoons.)

We usually get to spend lunch with the knitting ladies, which is especially nice since Ellie's nap conflicts with actually going to knit. Today Kristen and Lexi came along too, so double fun.

Right now we're hanging out at the house because Ricardo is fixing up our yard, but then it's off to Gigi and Grizz's for a little doot doot doo, perhaps some Poppy Cat, and maybe building the TALLEST TOWER EVER SEEN! And then dinner with dada when he gets home from the office. Doesn't get much better than that.

Amusing: lately Ellie is obsessed with who goes to work and who doesn't, and what they do at their office. She knows that Grizz doesn't go to an office, so she likes to check if he's at golf or at the gym. The only other option for Grizz is that he's at Gigi's house. Not his house, GIGI'S house. That he gets to visit. And while she doesn't bother the rest of us about it, should Grizz state his intentions to use the restroom, she runs after him, stands outside the door and yells "don't forget to wash your hands Grizz!"

Also funny in "things Ellie talks about" she is very excited that her brother will be able to play with her soon. He's going to play blocks. And poop. And she's going to help change his stinky diaper, and she'll get him a little table for changing.

This whole post started out so nice, and now is all about bathroom functions. Probably best if I end it here then.

Good on All Counts.

Missy Moo is officially loving her big girl bed. Or if not loving it, no longer whining to be put in her other bed. The only one disgruntled with this arrangement is Orange, who enjoys all aspects of Ellie's big girl room - sleeping on her bed, wallowing around in her tent, parking her large rear in the little green chair. I can only imagine how pissed she's going to be when the nursery door is closed to her again too and she can't sleep on the changing table or in the crib either. I don't know why she complains - the other morning I woke up and rolled over to discover that she was sleeping with her head on my pillow, about a half inch from my face.

Anyhow, she's been doing well. Going down before nine, and lately sleeping until almost 8. Which means I'm sleeping 9 hours a night, easy. I love being a lazy pregnant woman. I'm also thankful that I haven't reached the stage yet where I have to wake up if I need to roll over, and where I can sleep 9 hours without having to go to the bathroom.

Today I had my 32 week check up with the doctor, and we started with a quick ultrasound to check on the baby's growth, and to check on how everything is going in the old baby factory. Excellent marks on all - my insides are the ideal growing conditions, and the baby is right on track. In fact, he's even a touch ahead. He's measuring just under five pounds, which puts him in the 60th percentile. So not enormous, but healthy. And surprisingly (to me) he's head down. I figured he must be transverse, because at night he pushes so hard under my ribs on both sides of my body, that I thought he had to be the wrong way. Turns out, he's just aggressive and likes to make his mom grunt in pain.

Like his sister, they can already see hair on the ultrasound. And like Ellie, he appears to have the cutest little button nose.

The top of his head is on the right side, and then that little oval on the left is his hand, up right by his nose and mouth. It's single digit weeks now until we get to meet him!

Music for the Morning After.

Well, we survived the night. E was up twice, which was better than expected, and both times she went back to sleep fairly quickly. I get it - it's a big change, and it's hard because her old bed is right next door. It's not like we're on vacation or some place where there is no other option. But I'm confident that she'll be happy as a clam in her new room come April. This morning we had a lovely talk about how her baby brother will need the crib soon, and we discussed all the things she can do with said brother (play blocks with him, hold him, change his stinky diaper, ride in the cart with him at Costco.)

This morning Tim took her on a walk and I tackled the bags of baby boy clothes that my girlfriend had passed on to me. All of the 0-6 month stuff is ready to be washed and sorted and put away, and everything else is sorted, sealed, and shoved under the bed for later. That feels like a great job done.

When Tim got back, I had him help me putting up frames in Ellie's new room, so that there's finally some decor. She likes it so far.

Here is her fancy new room! (featuring the same old orange cat. She loves the new bed, of course.)

Her new little closet space, featuring super cute curtains made by Grandma Rosie. The closet bar is hung on the inside, but I haven't moved any clothes over. Her dresser sort of smells like old person (it's an antique) and so I want to air it out and get some shelf paper before transferring all her clothes.

Her smelly dresser and all of the framed albums. I love this part of her room, and I hope she will too as she gets older. Then we also have the masses of toys. It's okay toys, we will just throw you in the room and close the door.

Speaking of closing the door - today I put her down for a nap, sat with her for a few and then stepped out. Listening over the monitor, I could hear her playing with the little door stops on the back side of her door, and so I went to go open it, put her back in her bed, etc. Yeah. The little turd had locked her bedroom door. And of course, the hinges are on the inside, and the lock is a turn lock, not a quick pop lock. Tim used his many brain skills and was able to get a screw driver in and turn the knob, where we discovered Missy Moo crying with a big dump in her trunks. PERFECT. This is exactly the smooth transition I was hoping for.

Thankfully, with a quick diaper change she was back and asleep within minutes. I didn't realize that her door locked, or I probably wouldn't have latched the other side. Of course, Tim and I's door doesn't lock. I mean, why would parents need privacy? That never happens. So when she gets up, Tim has one more manual labor project - switching the door knobs out.

Big Girl.

Oh, our little Buster boo. Tonight is the first night we're trying her in her new bed. I have been trying to talk it up as much as possible, while also being careful about what I say, because I don't want her to turn it on me (ie: "you don't want to sleep in your old bed like a baby, do you?" "yes I AM a baby!") While also just acknowledging that this is a big transition, and that it may not go as smoothly as we'd like.

The good news is that we've had a break through in the past few weeks about going to bed. Up until recently, in order to get Elizabeth to go to sleep, someone had to sit in her room with her. Now, this may seem insane until you realize that it's actually a step up from the first 18 or so months of her life, when someone (usually Tim) had to actually lay in bed with her and hold her until she fell asleep. Now at least whoever is putting her to bed (usually Tim) can sit in a chair and read the internets on a tablet/phone. But still, it's always taken her a long time to settle down and fall asleep. The other night he got fed up with her (after an hour) and said that he was going to go, but he'd be right outside. And after a little whining, she fell asleep, and since then we've only had to sit with her for ten to fifteen minutes, and then she fall to sleep herself. It is a MIRACLE. I am of course, terrified that with this move we'll be back to square one, but she's going to need to figure it out, and figure out how to sleep in her new bed, because there's going to be a new screaming poop machine on the block, and so those of us who understand English and can listen to reason are going to have to make some compromises.

So I'm a little nostalgic tonight. I can't believe how big she is! We've got her starting to climb into the car and the car seat on her own. She sits in a regular person chair for all meals, and is working on clearing her place at the table when she's done.

Her talking is funny too - I feel like she's picking up more phrases and idioms, which cracks me up. She still puts things together on her own, which can lead to hilarity. Yesterday she asked me "do they have octopus at Home Depot?" and wanted to review whether or not kitties go in the fireplace (they do not, obviously.) She has finally started calling yogurt by the correct name, which actually makes me a little sad. I hope she never stops callings guinea pigs "binny pigs."

She's just such a joyful little person, and I've really been enjoying her lately. If we're about to do something fun (you know, like go to Mimi's house, or go see the bunnies at the pet store) she will say "I'm so excited!" and then tell me "I'm so happy!" (she's very interested in everyone's feelings as of late.) She's obsessed with wearing her tutu skirt lately (thank goodness we have several) and will do her "beautiful dancing flower" dance whenever the moment strikes her.

She is also very interested in what people's names are lately - usually by asking me "what's his name?" as we pass someone on the street. I am working with her on saying "my name is Ellie, what's your name?" if she wants to know who someone is. I also think it's funny to hear her call herself Ellie, because for the longest time, any time you mentioned the idea of "name," she'd call herself Itty Bitty. If Grizz asks her, she still says Itty Bitty, because she'll be his IB forever.

Even if she is getting so big already.