weekend? what weekend?

I have to work this weekend. I'll be handsewing the monsters at work on my lunch break. I know I've been at work too many days in a row last week because I have started having nightmares about people wanting specialty faucets and sinks that are nearly impossible to get. What an odd brain I have to come up with those things at night!

Car and Dolly and go to Grandmas

For Grandpa and Grandma: Esme playing on her 'car'
Mark found this toy car at a rummage sale for 3.00 the day I had to go to the doctors. Esme loves it - and we keep it in the kitchen by her slide for her to push around. It has a 'trunk' in front where she is keeping letters from the fridge, some plastic disks etc etc...


Esme howling the moment she heard Daddy coming down the stairs with the dogs. Just before this she had been showing me that the '2' on the fridge was also on a cardboard box.


Going to Grandma's - can we come in?

I've been trying to get Esme to carry her dolly more and 'take care' of it. I want to encourage more pretend play and am often telling her I carry you - you carry dolly, you go for a nap, dolly goes for a nap etc etc... We gave the dolly a bath the other day in the sink (although it went in the washing machine after that when she wasn't looking). I'm not preparing her for a sibling, just want to encourage Esme to use her imagination and symbolic play more since most of her play is 'bang/boom/run around' or building or drawing.


Want a snack right here. Got to work on the please!

Drink from a straw

walk back home carrying dolly all the way

As if that wasn't a big enough day we then went to the co-op to get dog food, and the bank, and the grocery store to get milk and chicken. At the co-op the lady showed us some kittens who live in the back. An orange and a black kitten, both who loved to be petted and were very lazily sleeping on some boxes. Thank you for showing us the kittens! (we know you read the blog). The lady at the bank gave us two stickers which we held all the way to the grocery store.

At home Daddy made sloppy joe rice (our favorite) and it was such a mess that a bath was completely required afterwards. Then Daddy rented 'Horton Hears a Who' on Grandma's reccommendation. It was really good and we laughed a lot.

Cute

Esme with Daddy


Already a bad driver, running over the dog at a young age.
note: This is the stroller toy we bought at a flea market all the way back when Esme was first learning to stand up. She played with it for a while until she started trying to use it to climb on things. We removed it from her play area and she recently found it again in a closet and wanted to play with it. She's been running it all around the house and even wants us to push her in it for 'whee' rides once in a while (which is hard because she falls out when we stop - so funny!)

In other news: I really need a day off! I can't wait till Friday - we have that playdate then, too!

Baseball commentary

Esme was sitting in Grandpa's lap today for a short time during our visit. Baseball was on - the Cubs versus the Cincinatti Reds? Anyway - as the pitcher was ready to throw the ball Esme was saying 'ready', 'ready', 'ready' and then when the player would hit it/lose it to the umpire she would say 'uh oh' or clap if we say he hit the ball. If he missed and they were going to throw again she would say 'again' when they began to pitch again.

Oh the misery she'll face if she grows up a Cubs fan (Daddy's quote) She's such a funny kid!

We were also watching a film where there was a plane crash and everyone the screen was crying and screaming. Esme was putting out her arms to the screen and trying to talk to the people and ask me to help them. I had to tell her it as all a bad dream the character was having and he would wake up soon (and he did).

Sunday

We did swim for a while, and Grandma came to watch us. I cooked an italian sausage and spinach pizza this afternoon after our meat run. The sausage was really good! I saved half of it for work-lunch the next few days. Our freezer should be stocked for another few weeks as Mark always buys in bulk and then repackages when we get home. Mark cooked a good pork chop for each of us and Esme ate quite a bit of what we gave her. We didn't do much else today - a little playing on the computer and a bubble bath to get rid of yogurt in the hair. Back to work every day until Friday. But by then inventory should be over and things should have calmed down some!

I didn't even take any pictures today - wow...

bits and bobs

Esme has let a few new words out again - 'socks', 'shirt', 'zigzag', 'ostrich' - probably a few more she's holding back still. We were working on the difference between S and X and V and Z tonight. 'O' is currently her all-time favorite letter to point to. She can put her own elastic-strap shoes on now and is trying hard to put a shirt on over her head. She is attempting longer complicated words which I'm proud of her for! I tried to skip over the 'zigzag' song on Starfall and she pointed back at the Z and said 'zigzag' clear enough that I got it - so we went back and played the song. She was putting her head on my knee over and over, so I asked her if she wanted to go 'nigh-nigh.' She slowly got up and walked over to her bed. No complaint when I put her in - so nice!

I have tomorrow off and it should be warm enough to swim again. We also need to run to restock our freezer. I've tried to arrange a playdate on Friday with someone from my work who has a daughter two months older than Esme. It should be a really great match! We'll see if it goes through.

I have been really stressed with the atmosphere at work lately - inventory is coming and we are also short-staffed. Also with several back-to-back shifts (close one night then morning shift the next) I feel like I hardly have seen Esme before I have to go to sleep and back to work before she wakes up. I want to scream 'I want my baby!' in the middle of the warehouse and freeze everyone there so I can drive home and not be missed while I spend time with her. I know that isn't possible - and I just hold it all back until I finally do get to go home. Sometimes on my lunch break I'll sneak in a text message to Mark that 'I miss my Esme.'