Twos-Days Gone

The last picture of my two-year-old. The last picture of her with her paci. Probably NOT the last picture of her sleeping backwards in our bed. 

Haddie,

You've got a big day ahead of you my sweet, strong-willed little Cubby. We've talked and prepared for this day for a couple of weeks now. And not just because it is your THIRD birthday, but because of the change this birthday brings. On your first birthday, you were completely cut off of nursing (you handled it just fine). On your second birthday, you got promoted from high chair to booster seat at the dining table (you felt on top of the world). But this third birthday brings the toughest change yet: your beloved bedtime pacifier has got to go. No amount of prep talking can prepare you (or me) for this. As you sleep next to me tonight I will soak up your sweet little paci-face one last time. 

You have grown up so much this past year, as children do. You are venturing a little farther away from Mother Duck and developing your own sense of self. You are athletic, smart, funny, sweet, sassy, and brave (and many other things, too). You enjoy running laps around the gymnastics gym at full speed, only slowing to get stamps for a task performed. You love to read and build.  You are my baby, just like I am my mama's baby. And you always will be my baby. My Cubby. My little duckling. 

Happy Third Birthday, Haddie Liz!

Love, Mama

Helllooooo 2015!

The first day of 2015 is coming to a close. It's been another beautiful, sleep-deprived, love-filled day.  Every day is such a roller coaster of ups and downs and meltdowns and dance parties. And guess what?!  If you actually read this, you are now going to {possibly} see our everyday crazy.  I'm going to let it all hang out. My personal challenge (not resolution) is to do a post a day for 365 days. With any luck, I will have two posts a month.  Maybe I will make fifteen posts this first month, due to the excitement of it. But then the fun and re-newness of it will wear off and I will get bored or distracted and move on to one of the other billion challenges I have set for myself for 2015.  Yes, I can see how this will probably end. But, this is a new day and a new year filled with new chances.

Now on to personal challenge number 78: Use or learn a 'new' {not frequenting my daily vocabulary} word each day.  I'm going to do that here, too.  And you can't laugh at me. Or, you can, but don't be mean to me while laughing at me. Here's my word-of-the-day definition from Merriam-Webster:

pri·ma don·na

noun \ˌpri-mə-ˈdä-nə, ˌprē-\

: the main female singer in an opera company

: a person who thinks she or he is better than everyone else and who does not work well as part of a team or group

 ***

I will admit that I used to (years ago, let's just say 'years' ago) think the term was 'pre-Madonna.'  I've never been a big Madonna fan, nor could I figure out the proper context to use the term. What defines someone as 'pre-Madonna?'   No shame.

***

I would also like to point out that Rip made the photo collage, but Abe - poor, fluffy, little, poopy faced Abe, did not.  Why not post a picture of possibly the most adorable little furball to exist? (I might be biased, but if you heard the things I call that sweet little beast, you might believe I think otherwise.)  Because he has a POOPY PUPPY FACE! His most favorite recreational pass-time is poop eating.  And the little turd (pun intended) has taught the other dog in the house the art of poop eating.  Rip is old enough to listen to the command to not lick me, so I dare get close to him with my camera.  But Abe...well, that's a risk I don't want to take.  Brings a more literal meaning to the term 'shit faced,' doesn't it?

HAPPY POO NEW YEAR! 

Zoo Year's Eve

The girls and I went to the zoo on New Year's Eve for a special Zoo Year's Eve event we (I) spotted on the zoo's website.  The website was misleading about the event, so we ended up arriving three hours early.  Glad we did, though.  It was cold, but the animals, especially the wolves, were very playful!  Sami played with this wolf for about 15 minutes - no joke!  They ran back and forth together. When she stopped, he stopped.  The littles and I stayed inside the shelter and watched through the glass and the wolves came right up and one touched noses with Stella through the glass! Well, duh, he didn't go THROUGH the glass. But you know what I mean.

The girls had a couple of rides on the carousel, courtesy of the super sweet volunteer that took pity on my stupidity (free carousel rides were part of the Zoo Year's Eve event and also how I lured the girls to the zoo in the first place), ran around the zoo and burned some energy and yelled 'HAPPY ZOO YEAR! as we left.

Sami stayed with her BFF/cousin Nora and had a fancy celebration and stayed up late. Stella (has been sick with a yucky cold/cough) and Haddie (had a bad nap day) did a little bit of dancing and  were passed out by about 8pm. Joe and I stayed up late watching a really slow, boring movie (called Captive-consider yourselves warned), but we (I) needed to see the ending so we suffered through it.

2014 for this Fluge household included:

• One broken thumb-sucking habit (with the continued help of Mavala Stop polish)
• Two {mostly} potty trained littles.
• Three surgeries.
• Four girls.
• Five birthdays.

Goodbye 2014 and Happy Zoo Year!