the back of Buggy

Took her outside after church to try to get a pic because she looked so cute in her dress. Tried to get her to stand next to various flowers and "Look at Mommy" to pose for a picture. Nope. Couldn't get her to cooperate for anything. So I got several pics of her backside.

and I moved and got a "sideview". Best I could do.

Chuck E. Cheese

This past Saturday we attended Ashley's 5th birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese. Our party tables was on the end closest to the large animatronic mouse. Sydney clung to me for about the first 15 mins, just checking out the moving mouse and saying "no" while shaking her head. She lightened up after a bit (but still avoided the mouse), and ended up having a LOT of fun playing (mostly with her daddy and Ashley's mom, Cindy)


Annabelle had fun riding rides too. Here she is looking all tough riding in a Jeep:
Sydney LOVES Spongebob:

Buggy cruises in the little Blue car. Alan stays close by (Daddy and Annabelle's legs in the background)

Annabelle rides shotgun

Daddy and Annabelle took some weird sketch photo thing, but I think it turned out pretty good.

Then around the time I thought Annabelle should be getting really hungry, she passed out instead for about an hour (in all the loud noise of CEC)

So, I was sitting alone at the table for the longest time, just killing time while everyone played and Annabelle napped. So I was playing around with my camera. Nothing thrilling, just a couple in the black/white setting

Daddy and Bug were really just too far across the room here

Sydney was so funny toward the end. She would just walk over to the table, grab a single token, and run off to play (I heard the little blue car was were she went to each time). Then she'd come right back and get another single token and off she'd go again. So funny. She also did a lot of dancing since there was always some sort of music. We were there from noon until 4pm, so right through nap time. Bug was knocked out in her carseat within the first 2 blocks on the drive home.

Annabelle @ 4 months

Not nearly as chunky as Bug was at 4 months.

Happy Belle:

There is just something about this face that cracks me up:

So, she had her 4 month appt today for shots and such. She currently weighs 13 pounds, 12 ounces and is 24 inches long (24 more and she can ride the big rides at Disneyland!)

She is riding steady in the 55th percentile of weight and the 50th percentile for head and height. Exactly the same percentiles she was in 2 months ago at her 2mo. appt.

I didn't get any pics of Belle at the appt, but I did get some of Buggy goofing off.

Bug on the doctor's stool:

Buggy on the little step-stool they have in the room for the kiddos:

and then she decided that it was a potty and not a step-stool. :::sigh::: At least the nurse thought it was hilarious

And in sad news, we found out we are losing our Pediatrician after labor day. She has moved to Manhattan Beach and the commute is killing her. She will be moving to a Kaiser facility further west down the 91. It would be about a 25 minute drive for us. We have 3 options: follow her there (which she totally understands that we most likely wouldn't no matter how sad that makes me), sign on with her replacement who is coming from LA and whom she highly praises, or sign on with a doctor that is currently in the office that we've seen once (and I can't really remember). Decisions.

Father's Day 2011 (a few days late)

This is the picture I used on Dana's annual Daddy shirt. (Figure I'll do this annually as long as the girls will let me. Guessing they may think it's "lame" around the pre-teen years, so D has a good 10 years worth still coming)

:::sigh::::

Just like she did in her crib, Miss Bug still sleeps sideways.

at least she hasn't tumbled out of bed for several days. (notice the blanket to cushion any fall - just in case)

pre-father's day fun and dirt

Today was Donuts for Dads day at Buggy's daycare. I knew Bug would be totally happy to see her daddy there (plus, I know from experience on the mothers day thing that the kids who don't have a parent there have to stay inside and watch from the windows - so sad). I had Dana take my small camera so that I could download the pics easily.

I dressed Bug for the occasion in her "I love my Dad" shirt from last father's day. Still fits, and it was very appropriate.

Here is Bug pigging out on donut holes. Apparently she had "a few".

Bug and Miss Suzanne (or as Bug calls her: ew-anne) play a traditional dad-type game: Golf

Mastering her swing:
see the sad sad children inside just watching. :(
Bug and her Daddy (but you can't read her shirt due to her arm in the way)

So apparently she spent ALL DAY in the pre-school class today. Once again I was told how well she did, and how much she LOVES the bigger playground for the over 2 crowd. I think she was wearing the playground when I picked her up. She was dirtier that I have EVER seen her. Absolutely filthy. I found dirt in the cuffs of her pants (which were once white and are now brown)

every inch of her had filth on it. Face, Shirt, Pants, Shoes. OMG I don't know if any amount of Oxy-Clean can ever get those pants white again. :::sigh:::

Well, I've learned to dress her in only dark colors from here on out. And to not use pricier pretty pony-tail holders. She lost the pretty one I had in her hair this morning. As you can see from the pics above, she still had her pony tail in at 10am during the dad-thing. But it was long gone when I picked her up. I even scanned the floor of her classroom and the playground. She kept saying "Bye Bye tail" when I would ask her where her "tail" was.

^ dirtiest child ever.

Discovery Pre-School

:::tear:::

Bug spent time in room 3 at Daycare today (room 1 is infants, room 2 is toddlers, room 3 is discovery preschool, room 4 is preKindergarten, and room 5 is Kindergarten). She is starting her transition to the next level. I heard from 4 different teachers that she did "So Well!" Awwwwwwww. So sad that my baby is growing up!

28 days until her 2nd birthday.

New Bed - night 11

Another perfect night.

Although, when I went in she was asleep with her head hanging down over the edge of the top end.

And we haven't even put up the rail yet. We just laid a lot of her extra soft blankets on the outside edge where she would be most likely to roll off.

New Bed - night 10

THUMP! whoops, she rolled out the front side last night. But a little cuddling and rocking in the glider with Mommy made everything OK and she was back to sleep within 5 minutes.

Mommy made a trip to Babies-R-Us to pick up a bed rail. I'm sure both Sydney and Annabelle will get use out of it.

Dinner at Chomp 06-12-2011

Sunday night was Delayne's graduation dinner at Chomp in Fullerton. I wasn't sure how Sydney would do with the "show".


Got a little flame on the grill. So far she's okay with this. Notice my empty seat next to her. I abandoned her to take these pics (her daddy was just on the other side of her)

LOTS of flame. Sydney is ready to bolt.

Handling the little onion volcano just fine.

Watching all the cooking going on. She told me several times, "Hot". Cutest moment: when the chef had little rice balls to fling for people to catch in there mouths. Sydney was watching everyone try to catch the rice. Then she sat there with her mouth open waiting. The chef tossed a teeny one her way. So sweet!

Cousins. All four Rock girls. Denise, Sydney, Delayne, and Annabelle

Annabelle charms Rachel, Christopher, and Dawn.

Annabelle with Uncle Darryl

Sydney spends some time with her Grandma

Denise and Annabelle

Dolly was hanging out in the carseat this whole time

Buggy and Uncle Darryl admire the fishies (Sydney calls him Uncle DooDoo with some prompting from her Daddy)

Here is where Uncle Darryl told Sydney he was taking her home, but since he didn't have a carseat she'd have to ride in the back of the truck. He put her in it, and she looked so worried. Poor Bug. :(

Cake at the grandparents house.

at least the blue frosting matches her shirt

Got home around 9 or 9:30 and Sydney went right to bed with no problem.

New Bed - night 8

Perfection!

New Bed - night 7

She fell asleep just fine. Around 10:30pm, I hear a "thump" followed by crying on the monitor. Run into her room. No Bug in sight. She rolled off the trundle on the back side and was under the big bed. Poor baby.

Rectified this by not pulling trundle all the way out anymore. Leave it a tad pushed under and there isn't room for her between the 2 beds.

She wanted to be held, and kept pointing to crib. Nope. Get back on this horse. I didn't want her to be afraid of her new bed. She went back to bed fine and slept through until around 6am.

New Bed - night 6

Who am I kidding. She went straight into the crib on this night since Dana was out at a graduation, and I was dealing with a fussy/hungry Annabelle. Peace of mind for me not to have to worry about whether or not Miss Bug was staying in bed.

New Bed. Nights 4 and 5

both: goes to sleep fine. Wakes and cries for the crib around 2:30 to 3:30am.

New Bed. Night 3 (update) and night 4

Update to Tuesday night. It was a partial success. I went in to check on her around 10:30pm and found her like this:

turned exactly 180 degrees from when I left her at 8pm (at that time her head was on the pillow instead of her feet). I layed down in there around 11pm and soon after heard her stir. Look over to find her kneeling on the trundle looking at me with a very groggy/glazed looked. Directed her to lay back down. She did. But she turned herself perpendicular to the bed, skootched around a bit and ended up with her head under the big bed and cried because she got herself sort of stuck. I got her unstuck (she wasn't really "stuck", she just couldn't figure out how to back out of that), and showed which way to lay properly again. More moving around, squirming and general unease and at 12:30am she said to me "Crib".

Okay, so she did 1/2 a night on her big-girl bed. And tonight she went down with no fight or anything and fell asleep within minutes. :::fingers crossed:::

new bed nights 2 and 3

Monday - FAIL #2. Yeah, didn't happen again. Did our usual lay on the big bed together and read "Bubbles Bubbles" and "At the Zoo" and then her Elmo gets his big-boy bed book. Then we did prayers. Next, I tried to move her to the lower trundle and she instead whined for the crib. I put her in the crib and then she completely lost it when I pushed the trundle under and refused to do "Mommy Night Night" time in the big bed again. I explained that we already did all that and now it was time to go to sleep. Cue 20 minute scream-fest. Poor baby. :(

Tuesday - Success! This time we did "Mommy Night Night" time on the lower bed. Read all 3 books again. Pointed out the similarities to her between Elmo getting a big new bed and Sydney's new bed. Then we did prayers. That was the first 10 mins. Over the next 10 minutes, I moved to the glider to rock. Sydney was up and checking out the new doorknob (baby-proof thing-a-ma-jig). Sydney tried to climb to the upper bed. Sydney walked over to me and asked to go in the crib. I stayed consistent in pointing out Sydney's new bed and that she needed to lay back down.

The final 15 minutes, I just sat and rocked while Sydney settled into sleep on her bed. Ahhhhhh... Good girl. That was 2 hours ago. I haven't been up to check on her, but I haven't heard anything concerning on the monitor. It's a good night. A few more of these under our belt and I will feel better about moving Annabelle into the crib without Sydney freaking over that.

Happy 40th to me

Happy Birthday to me. Last Thursday I saw a commercial on TV for a Catalina Express promotion. Free round trip on your b-day. I thought "now there's an idea!" At least it'd be something to do and we'd only have to pay the $50ish for Dana (well it was around $50 per person last time I went which was like 2003 or 2004... so a while ago). Well, Buggy has been fighting a cold/cough since Wednesday. And this morning she woke up, snuggled in bed with me and just when I thought she was doing better (since she hadn't coughed all night), she sprayed my face with a nice wet phlegmy cough. Nice. So I mumbled under my breath "happy birthday to me".

We continued to snuggle with Bug passing me her books to read over and over when she suddenly rolled to face me and said "Happy Birthday Mommy". All on her own. No prompting from me at all - and a good 15 mins or so after I'd mumbled to myself. OMG. It was so sweet she just melted my heart. She must have really liked my reaction (which was *almost* tears) because she said it to me off and on all day today. So cute. I even caught it on video. :)

We basically did church, and breakfast. Then came home fed Annabelle and around 11:30 Bug and I laid down for a nap, which was at first about 40 mins of her chatting, passing me books to read etc... While we were napping, Dana provided Rebecca (our realtor) with our deposit for the house we're looking to get :::fingers crossed::: I was up at 1:15 to feed a screaming Annabelle. Bug slept through until 3:30 when I had Dana wake her up. We gathered ourselves together to go out to an early dinner. I just chose Olive Garden. I had been wanting for months to do it up big for my 40th and go to the Magic Castle in Hollywood, but with breastfeeding Annabelle and not pumping (therefore no stash to speak of)... it just wasn't an option yet. Plus, the ol' chest wouldn't survive a trip to MC which could easily go up to 10 hours (leave @ 3:30pm to arrive by 5. Dinner. Shows. Leave at Midnight return home around 1am? Yeah, not happening right now) I plan to postpone a trip to the Magic Castle, however, that is now on the fence since we'll be buying an actual house - hopefully!

Anyway, we get to Olive Garden and luckily snag a spot right in front of the entrance. Dana gets the infant carrier out of the car, and as I lean in to get Sydney out I ask him if he'll grab the diaper bag since its on the floor on that side of the car. He informed me that it's not there. What?! I told him I put it behind his feet as he was putting in Annabelle and the mirror I wanted put in the car. I had set it behind his feet (so he'd have to trip over it and totally notice it), as I mentioned to him that it was there and to put it in when he was done with the mirror. Yeah, he missed that. Crap. Back in the car we all go. Goodbye awesome parking spot. Race home, and there it is... sitting right where I left it next to the curb. 20 minutes after we had left! Phew!

We got back to OG and still got a front spot by pure luck since it was crowded. Bug of course charmed all the older ladies waiting in the lobby area. Bug was totally looking forward to her "Mac and Cheeeeeeeese". She napped through lunch-time and was probably pretty hungry.


I was eyeballing the Steak and Gorgonzola Fettucini. Until I saw the 1400 calorie listing. I suprisingly made a great choice while eating out and had the Venetian Apricot Chicken (340 cals!). 2 Chicken breasts served with asparagus and broccoli. I only ate one breast, but I'm sure I countered the low cals with the alfredo sauce I dipped my breadstick in. Oh well. I'm happy with myself. Also, Since Annabelle refused to conk out, I ate my entire meal while bouncing her on my knee - so that was definitely expending some energy. Go me.

When D finished eating I passed Annabelle over to him to give my wrist a break. Annabelle enjoyed watching her sister.

When we got home, D assembled Buggy's new trundle bed. I had flower sheets or TinkerBell sheets for her to choose between. She chose Tink. I made up the beds, and we took some pics of an excited Bug checking out her bed.

However when it came to actually going to bed? Yeah, that was a big FAIL. She wouldn't stay down. She'd get up and head over to the cord for the nightlight. She'd try over and over to climb up onto the regular bed. She try to stand and jump. I told her over and over to Lay Down! If she didn't immediately listen I would just say "Do you want to sleep in the crib?" She'd say No and instantly lay down... but it didn't seem to last. Finally after about 1/2 hour of this, she seemed to be getting it somewhat so I decided to slip out for a moment to use the restroom. I came back in just as she was standing up. She looks at me and says "crib?" I asked her "do you want to sleep in the crib?" She nods yes. After she was securely in the crib, I pushed the trundle back under - which caused a moment of hysteria from Bug, but I assured her we would try again tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another day! LOL!