Toddler Mad House

This past weekend Ainsley and I went to Chesapeake to stay at my friend Carrie's house. Carrie's little girl Addie is 8 days younger than Ainsley. Two of our other college friends brought their toddlers to join the party. We had a great time. I think the kids had fun too. Here are a couple of pictures of the four tiny tots.

That's Lucas behind Ainsley, Grayson next to him, and Addie is the little one with all the dark hair. Ainsley was very jealous :)

Here are a few things I learned about Ainsley this weekend that I pretty much already suspected...

1. Ainsley is very strong willed and it is very difficult to make her do anything she does not want to do. Example: Sit in chairs. She must stand in chairs even if it means falling out of them and busting her head. She and I went round and round over this and we found a very nice time out spot in Carrie's house.

2. Ainsley does not share very well. Since there are only so many kid toys in the world, you can imagine that Ainsley and Addie have many of the same toys. So I understand that she could be confused seeing a pink and purple car that looks just like her pink and purple car. However, I wish she would share a little better. At least the boys fought over it as well.

3. Ainsley's favorite word is "MINE!!!" Everything is hers...doesn't matter if it's a blue chair that says Addie on it. It looks like her pink chair and it's all hers. No one could sit in that chair without Ainsley screaming "My seat!" and rushing over to remove them from it.

4. Ainsley can now open doors. Twice she opened the door to Carrie's back deck.

5. Ainsley can say Oreo...only it sounds like "Oeo." And she loves them.

6. Ainsley is very good at Ring Around the Rosey.

7. Even though she is bossy and rotten and strong willed...she is very sweet. She gave kisses and hugs when we were leaving, she asked about Daddy all weekend and she says "I ya you" (I love you).

We also got to see Aunt Dee Dee and Uncle Mike while we were in town. They were visiting Mike's sister in Va Beach. They brought our cousin Eddie, who goes to school at ODU, to lunch with them and we taught Ainsley to say "Edd dee." Here's a picture of them for you Aunt Linda. I'll send it to you in an email as well.

We had a really nice weekend and I hope we can do it again soon.

Valentine's Day Madness

For Valentine's Day, my mom came to visit and babysit Ainsley while Clif and I attended a Valentine's Day Scavenger Hunt. It was a lot of fun. We had to do a bunch of random things like stand on my head in front of a post office...


Get firefighters to run the lights on a truck for us...

Take shots at a local bar...

Participate in a window display...

Imitate the Beatles famous album cover...

And many, many more.

We had a great time and we got to have a night out with grown ups which is always a fun change of pace. My mom stayed home with Ainsley and friends of ours 7 month old daughter. So mom had her hands full. Both girls were still awake when we got home. Although, it was kind of an early night for us since we started at 4.

Ainsley had some very cute V-Day outfits. Here are a couple.

And my mom painted her little finger nails...not sure you can tell that well, but here's a pic.

So, some sad news. Tomorrow is Ainsley's last day of daycare until Clif finds a new job. I am kind of sad about it. She just loves that place and they love her so much. I'm not sure if I'll be able to pick her up tomorrow without getting teary-eyed :( Even though I would like to be at least a part time stay at home mom, I have to say that I am a reformed believer in daycare. They give her so much more than I could on my own. She has just blossomed there, and I am sad to take it away from her. I keep telling myself that it's only temporary, but it doesn't make it any easier on her. She doesn't understand.

Ok, enough whining from me...stuff happens and you just roll with the punches. She'll be back playing with her little friends in no time. For the time being, daddy and Ainsley are going to get REAL tight ;)

This weekend Ainsley and I are travelling to Chesapeake to visit some of my college sorority sisters. All three of them have toddlers around the same age as Ainsley. Carrie has a little girl who is just 8 days younger than Ainsley. Then Shanna and Heather have little boys who are just a day apart...3 months younger than Ainsley. It should be a lot of fun, and it will give daddy lots of time to rest up before he becomes Mr. Mom next week.

The Next Mia Hamm?

Clif grew up playing soccer, I played softball. So we always "argue" about what our kids will play. Ainsley's Uncle Cameron bought her a soccer ball for her birthday, and so far she hasn't shown a whole lot of interest...but she doesn't really stay interested in anything so that's not saying much.

Since it was so nice today we played outside...took a wagon ride, swung, and kicked the soccer ball. I mean catching, throwing and hitting a softball takes WAY more skill than even a very advanced 19 month old has. So for now, until she grows into a glove, we'll kick the little soccer ball around.

By the way, the black flash you see on the screen is just Gatsby doing is 100 mile an hour daily laps.

As you can see, we're prepping her for the 2024 summer games...we'll just have to wait and see which sport she appears in.

The Park in February

This morning I woke up and there was snow on the ground; however, Sunday we took Ainsley to the park because it was 65 degrees outside. Crazy Richmond weather. Anywho...we haven't been to the park in months since it's been cold and we really only have the weekends or an occasional "out of work early" day to go. So even if the weather is nicer, it usually doesn't fit into the schedule. Poor Ainsley doesn't get much time outside at all. Hopefully that will change this spring and summer.

Some things we discovered at the park...

1 - Ainsley is not thrilled with the swings anymore. She wanted nothing to do with them. Even when I got on with her.

2 - Ainsley LOVES the slide.

3 - To Ainsley, a park bench is really just as exciting as anything else at the playground

4 - Ainsley is really not very fond of taking turns.

To elaborate on that last note, on more than one occasion she tried to push someone out of her way to play with something. Mind you, all these kids were at least twice her age and much bigger than her.

Well, here are some more pictures for you to enjoy.

P.S. Whooo Hoooo Steelers. Six rings baby!!!!! (I can be a Redskins fan and a Steelers fan, totally different conferences - they hardly ever play each other :)

Chatter Box

I keep telling you how much Ainsley is talking these days, so I thought I'd show you. We didn't quite capture the height of the babble last night, but here she is singing songs and making animal sounds. Enjoy...



P.S. - Happy Birthday Grandma!