Tiny Bubbles

It's been awhile since I've logged an entry on the ol' blog! Izzy is growing like a weed and getting into many many things. Small tantrums and whining have started in earnest, leading me to believe that here begins the terrible 2's, even though she's not yet 17 months. I believe a lot of her troubles come from frustration of not being able to say as much as she understands....and what she understands seems to grow sometimes by the hour!

She is an interesting mix of a princess, a daredevil and a comedian. The last 2 portions of her personality are what usually cause her many bumps, scrapes and bruises. These are the parts that make her enjoy wrestling and tumbling around, including but not limited to doing belly flops off of the couch. The first part of her personality is what causes her to present me with her hand whenever anything icky is on it....be it sand, dirt, finger paint, or bath bubbles. This part also lends itself well to her being my mini-hair dresser. If I sit down on the floor with her in the evenings to play, she sometimes will get a few of my hair things from the bathroom and work on fixing me up....either that or she will try to share her dress up shoes with me by trying to put them on my feet...whether they fit or not. Needless to say with the hair dressing and the sharing of dress up things, we are working on being "gentle" and "nice." Anyone that knows a toddler well knows that this doesn't work real well at this age. Even with having her princess personality parts, however...she doesn't seem to mind getting soaked with food or fruit juice or the outside bubble stuff, or having things like ice cream dribbling down her chin. An interesting mix indeed.

As I progress along the growing path with my daughter, little bubbles of memory float to the surface from my own childhood; like a post shortly after she was born referencing the Czech words I suddenly remembered my mom using for things when I was little.

Yesterday another bubble surfaced. This time it was a song that I remember at least one of my sisters singing with me. I won't mention any names....you know who you are! It's been playing on an infinite loop in my head since yesterday afternoon, so I am publishing the lyrics here in an attempt to get it OUT.

As I was walking down the street one dark and dreary day
I came upon a billboard, and much to my dismay,
The sign was torn and tattered from the storm the night before.
The wind and rain had done its job and this is what I saw.

Smoke Coke-a-Cola cigarettes, Chew Wrigley's Spearmint Beer,
Ken-L-Ration Dog Food makes your complexion clear!
Simonize your baby with a Hershey's candy bar
And Texicola beauty cream is used by all the stars.

So take your next vacation in a brand new Frigidaire
Learn to play piano in your winter underwear
Doctors say that babies should smoke until they're 3
And people over 65 should bathe in Lipton Tea!

This....I can remember all the words to THIS, and yet forget so many more arguably more important things? (Jen....if you're reading this....I can also still remember about 80% of the words to "One Week" too....where as with others that I should remember, like from SCHOOL...I have to look up.) I can't decide if I am excited to teach my daughter these things on car trips or in preparation for camp when she's older, or if I feel a bit sorry for her....that I'll be teaching her all these kooky things.

Here is a picture of my bruiser. Followed a stroller right off a step and into a corner at the sitter...having fun, chasing the 2.5 year old she plays with there.

For awhile, Izzy was convinced that Magnum was ALWAYS wet and needed drying off. She probably got that idea after we had quite a bit of rain a few weeks ago.... here she's helping dry her buddy off:
You can just tell Magnum HATES the attention, can't you?
Mom helping Izzy make her first 'mud pie' cake. This is a recipe that my Mom used to make with me all the time. It reminds me of home, summer....and baling.
I'm hoping Izzy will like to bake with me as time goes on. It's one way to have something to do together and be able to discuss things.
And here is my handsome fur-boy. He puts up with so much, and loves us completely anyway. He LOVES the new carpet by the way....hopefully that will be enough to cuddle with and lay on so we can keep him off the new couch when it comes in!

The TODD Ride

This last weekend Dan, Izzy and I got together with some friends and rode a 27 mile trail in Des Moines, IA. Not only was it awesome to see quite a few of our old friends again, but the experience of the ride itself was great! Honestly, I wasn't sure how I would do over that distance. I admit that it was tiring, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Izzy was a pretty good sport about the whole trip. It was a LONG trip to IA on Friday...about 8 hrs worth. By the time we arrived in Ankeny we were ALL ready to get out of the car. On the ride, she did pretty well too....sleeping quite a bit and taking in the sights the rest of the time. There were portions of whining, of course, but that is to be expected when someone her age is restrained over a period of time. She seems to be saying 'I've got no stinking time for this, let me out!'

Here Izzy is playing with Kylie. Kylie was kind enough to show us around the playground at the trail head. The girls had a great time exploring and giving me things they found. At one point we found a group of geese to harass a little too...

The park pretty much rocked!

Here we are at the starting point. Note we're all fresh and smiling....ha ha. Izzy already has her helmet donned....obviously awaiting a wild ride.

The Sponge Bob MagnaDoodle says it all...and yes, she had help writing this...Finish line was El Bait Shop in downtown Des Moines.

Group finish shot. Note we are all looking a bit more subdued here. We've just finished 27 miles on the hottest day of the summer....and now we're having a beer! (minors excluded)