Mommy snd Daddy have been slacking!

Well, it has been a while and we are very behind! Especially since we've been staying pretty busy and so has Scarlett.

The week after the Caps game, Scarlett seemed to be feeling crappy again and I was STILL sick so we both went back to the doctor. Scarlett did in fact have an ear infection and I had pneumonia. We both ended up with antibiotics for 10 days. The good thing about that is that I felt like we were guaranteed a short break from the winter illnesses that seem to constantly be flowing through our house. Plus, Scarlett LOVES medicine, so she felt like she was getting an extra treat twice a day.

Paul had another short trip out of town Monday morning to very late Tuesday night (which happened to get him out of Valentine's day AND our 8 year anniversary) so it was just us girls again. My goal was to get Scarlett out of the house for at least 30 minutes per day. Monday we stopped at the little park closest to our house on our way back from daycare. She had a great time. It's amazing how much more she can do on her own from week to week. This time she was climbing up to and going down the slide by herself and climbing in and out of the sled-like bouncy toys on her own. On Tuesday we went to JW Tumbles playzone after daycare. She is crazed there. At least 3 or 4 different parents commented on how active she is. One made a point of saying it 4 or 5 separate times. That day we happened to meet another Scarlett -- spelled the same way and about 2 years old. They were born at the same hospital and have the exact same tennis shoes (because they both have unusually wide feet). Too funny. It was funny to watch our Scarlett play around the big kids. There would be 6-8 year olds playing on the slides but it didn't phase her if she thought it was her turn to go down. She saddled right up and if the child in front of her wasn't moving fast enough, she'd give them a push (not a behavior I encouraged!). She also didn't pay any attention to the kids at the bottom of the slide. If they didn't clear out fast enough, she just plowed right through! We're working on the manners... When we were at home, Scarlett decided that she wanted to take a walk outside. I mean that she brought me her coat and insisted that I put it on her and then went to the door and waited for me to take her outside. I figured she just wanted to play in the yard, but instead she asked for my hand and started walking up the street toward our local store. We got almost to the store when she decided it was time to turn around and go back. That was all it took. She was ready to go in.

After the playzone we ran around trying to get ready for Daddy's return. I had a grand plan to make tacos for him for our anniversary since he really only gets them if I'm out of town. We stopped to pick up some chocolates, Rio Grande salsa and guacamole, and then went grocery shopping for the supplies. Scarlett seemed to really enjoy errands for the most part. It meant lots of different people to watch and places to see. She's pretty funny at the grocery store. She demands all of her favorite foods as we go up and down the aisles. The child has clear preferences. Much to our dismay, despite all of our running around, Paul's flight was delayed and he ended up getting home close to midnight. Needless to say, tacos were postponed.

The night my mom got in we went to the playground after picking Scarlett up and then went to an Indian restaurant for dinner. Scarlett loves raita and chutney. She also loves that restaurant because it's big and usually fairly empty, so she gets to run around without getting in trouble. Scarlett quickly decided that having Nonni in town was a lot of fun, especially when driving in the car. She loved having someone to play with while she was in her car seat. She learned quickly that her laughing made Nonni laugh, so there was a lot of forced laughing going on the next 5 days!

Scarlett spent the next two days with Nonni. In the evenings we got back from work and went to a playground to give her a chance to run off some energy. Friday was the mack daddy of all playgrounds, Clemyjontri. She had a great time riding the toys and on the slides. She had so much fun there that we went again later that weekend. Friday night Paul and I went out to dinner. All was well except that my mom appears to have the "magic" touch in putting her to bed. Scarlett threw up on my mom 3 of the 4 times she put her to bed! She didn't seem to be sick so we'll just call it luck.

Saturday morning we went to Restaurant 3 for brunch and the afternoon was a party at Aunt Tracy's house. Aunt Glenda and Uncle Ray came down from Aberdeen, Nicole came up from North Carolina, and Dan's parents stopped by as well. Tracy even blew up the moon bounce... in her dining room! So Scarlett essentially got to play like a rock star in the comfort of her own private moon bounce. She loved it but could only take it for about 5 minutes at a time. The only trouble we had was that Scarlett started hitting me in the mouth. She knew she wasn't supposed to, so it usually was preceded with a loud "no", then a smack, then her trying to give me a hug or a kiss to make up for it. She then started learning the meaning of time out. At Tracy's house she got time out behind the couch. AT our house she has her very own time out chair that faces the wall in the living room. Despite her tender age, she seems to understand that it is a bad thing because she stops breathing every time. I'm not sure that it has been 100% effective because she occasionally hits me again, but it is usually when she is tired.

Sunday morning we had some french toast at home and then went to my favorite kid's bookstore (Hooray for Books) in Alexandria. We happened to be there during story time, so we sat down and listened to a few books. The employee who was reading did a great job engaging the kids so even though the stories were for big kids, Scarlett sat quietly through 3 books. They do a story time for kids 2 and under on Saturday mornings so we might start trying to hit that. Our last stop was the Verizon store so my mom could get her voicemail fixed, although we managed to find a sale at the Children's Place and got a few items for spring too. Nonni spent Sunday night with Tracy and the kids so Paul and I had a night on our own with her again.

Monday morning Tracy and the kids came to bring my mom back and Paul and I headed out to a Bed and Breakfast in Little Washington, VA. We had planned to go hiking and visit the Luray Caverns, but it was very cold and yucky. We spent a very quiet evening away. After a stop at Rappahanock Cellars for a tasting and lunch and dinner at Griffin's Tavern (the only place open on Mondays), we spent a night in playing Foodie Trivia. Meanwhile, back at home Tracy and crew took Scarlett to Chuck e Cheese (her first visit there). By all accounts she had a great time but didn't get down for a nap until 4 PM or so (her normal nap time is 1 PM) and she was wound up the rest of the night. Poor Nonni said it took 2 hours to get her to sleep that night.

My mom left the next afternoon, so after our four course breakfast (delicious!) we went back home. We made another quick stop at the playzone so my mom could watch her in action before going to the airport. After dropping mom off at the airport, we went to Jared's Galleria of Jewelery to have my jewelery checked and cleaned. They have a big kids room there that has a two story climbing thing for kids and a bunch of toys. They make buying jewelery fun for the whole family! The only problem was that Scarlett took that opportunity to poop and we managed to be out of diapers. Paul had to go on a diaper hunt while I entertained a very stinky Scarlett in the kids room.

Wednesday night I met Jacy for happy hour in Old Town (way overdue!) while Paul started packing for our trip to Washington. When I got back he tagged out to go to the Maryland game and Scarlett and I finished packing. She didn't go down to bed until 11 PM and when Paul got home at 12:30 AM I was still packing... Taking a baby across country requires a lot of planning and stuff, no matter how simple to try to keep it!
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So the 3 of us flew out to Seattle Thursday night (Feb 24th) and we were a little nervous. First, we still have fresh memories of our last flight to Seattle and the challenges we faced (puke here, puke there...) Second, nowadays Scarlett does not like to stay still for 5 minutes let alone 5+hrs in coach.

Shonna and I thought we would give extra time to get to the airport, but in usual "Wattrup" fashion, we left later than we planned. For that reason, we parked at valet instead of the garage. It might sound highbrow, but actually the extra $15 over the 4 parking days, is definitely worth it (I use "parking days" due to the fact that you can be gone for 3 days and 2 hours and still have to pay for 4 days parking). Valet saves 20+ minutes of parking, walking, or taking a bus; and with a baby you can imagine the extra baggage. That didn't come out right. Extra luggage. We also had a cart waiting for us, which saved $4. All told, it cost us $11 and we didn't have to sweat.

The flight was a little challenging. It started out just fine. Shonna and I had the window and center seat on a flight that had a few extra empties. We moved to priority seating, otherwise we would have had the aisle and window with no one else in our row. The guy on the aisle in our new row though he would share that info with us. "you know, if you book an aisle and window, you will most likely have the whole row for yourselves..." yea, thanks. We did that but gave it up for the extra leg room. Actually, it worked out perfectly. The guy moved to an empty exit row aisle seat (why that seat was open is beyond me). Boy is he lucky he moved. 30-45 minutes into the flight, Scarlett wouldn't sit still for a second. Bouncing back and fourth, pulling herself up on the seat, staring at the neighbors until they'd giver her a positive reaction. It seems to work 95% of the time! Scarlett did not slow down, as a matter of fact she became more frantic as the flight went on. With an hour left in the flight, I forced sleep on her. After all it was 10pm her time. After 10 minutes of "daddy's torturing me ", she slept for the remainder of the flight.

After the flight, it was off to the inlaws...