18 month check up

We Scarlett's 18 month check up not far from her 19 month birthday... It was also on a Friday night of Memorial Day weekend. Clearly our pediatrician is in high demand! Regardless, we had a very good experience there as usual. We met with Dr. Clapp who would not be my favorite person in a vacuum, but she is undeniably fabulous with children. We were seen almost immediately and they took us back to have Scarlett weighed and measured. You would have thought they were trying to kill her. She immediately started crying hysterically and clinging onto me like I was trying to throw her to the lions. When all was said and done she weighed in at 23 pounds and was 32 1/2 inches long. I think they said her head was 18 1/4. After the trauma of being weighed and measured was over, we went into the room to wait and Scarlett turned into herself again. She was climbing on the windows, bed, chairs, and her parents. She was jumping in and out of the tiles on the floor, singing, and dancing. She kept herself (and us) completely entertained while we waited for the doctor, which was good because it wasn't the shortest wait. Dr. Clapp came in and was pretty impressed by Scarlett. She typically has a pretty great poker face, but she kept saying how neat she thought she was. Of course Scarlett was performing for her -- talking, laughing, jumping, singing... It was kind of nice because she is typically pretty stoic at the doctor's office so they have to take our word for it that she has a pretty big vocabulary and strings words together and what not. This time the doctor got to see most of it first hand. She quickly ruled out autism and said she's doing a lot of things that 2 year olds are just starting to do. We tried to temper our pride as we went through the rest of the exam. Scarlett is still basically tracking right where she was at her first visit. She's in the 75th percentile for height and 45th for weight and is generally a happy, high performing, high energy little girl.

I asked some questions about discipline and some of her temper tantrums etc. to make sure we aren't screwing up royally, but other than a few helpful hints and words of wisdom, it seems like Scarlett (and us) are doing just fine. The doctor finished up and the nurse came in to administer her shot. Ironically, after the drama with being weighed, she didn't make a peep when she got her shot. No one ever said toddlers are logical. She can be a pain sometimes, but we are very, very proud parents. :)

After the doctor we decided to stop for dinner since it was already about 8 PM. We went to our favorite sushi place -- Sushi Zen. One of our favorite sushi chefs was there and he always hooks us up, so within minutes of sitting down, he sent over some seaweed salad for us. Imagine everyone's surprise when Scarlett started shoveling seaweed down her throat by the handful. It didn't end there though. She had her own little buffet of Japanese food - 3 pieces of California roll, fresh ginger, 1/2 bowl seaweed salad, a bunch of edamame, miso soup with tofu and seaweed, mushrooms, green beans, carrots, a few bites of salmon, oh and all of the salmon skin to finish off the meal. When she returned home, she ate some pudding and a about 10 oz of milk. People at the restaurant were amazed by the variety of foods she ate and we just kept praying that she didn't over-stuff herself and end up throwing it all up later! All-in-all, it was a successful night and she is one unusual toddler. The doctor had just asked us about her toddler-finickiness and wanted to make sure we were still able to get some nutrients into her....

Daddy in FLA, family trip to MIA, and a Triathlon- What a week!

Paul went to Florida for work. He was in Tampa Mon - Wed. I was supposed to fly to Miami on Wednesday for work myself, so we decided it would be simpler (and more fun) for me to take Scarlett down with me and have him meet us there. I was supposed to stay at a resort that had a big pool, so we thought it would be fun. While Paul was gone, Scarlett and I spent most of our time getting ready for the trip. We packed, bought a few toys for the plane, and did a lot of talking about how she was going to be a good girl on the way down there. She actually was. She had a blast at the airport. Being the Type A cautious one that I am, we had about 2 1/2 hours to wait before the plane boarded. Scarlett ran around, climbed the chairs, made friends, and even stuffed herself in the little box they have to make sure your carry on is small enough. Luckily she would fit in the overhead compartment in a pinch... :) One of her funniest moments was when she found a young woman with very fancy stilleto shoes and ran up to her and said "SHOES!!". The woman started laughing and saying she liked Scarlett's shoes too. Scarlett then capitalized on her opening and asked her for her McDonald's french fries. She let Scarlett reach in and grab one herself and she came back with an entire handful. Sigh. That's my girl! Flatter her with a shoe compliment and then steal her food. She also had the woman in the row behind us on the plane offering her lollipops. Mommy had to nix that one though...

Once we got there Scarlett and I took the super shuttle to the hotel, which as it turned out was sort of in the middle of no where. It was right on some well known golf course but otherwise there was nothing to do other than the pool. We met up with Paul and headed to the main building for some dinner. At that point Scarlett was VERY hungry and VERY tired. All-in-all, she was very cranky. Of course, that meant I was bound to run into my boss and all my colleagues from the meeting I was there for. Not quite the impression I wanted her to make, but oh well.

The next day I headed off to work while Paul and Scarlett had a fun filled day at the pool. I have to admit that I was pretty jealous, but I wasn't about to complain since I would much rather have them there so that I could at least see them in the evenings. The next day I finished before lunch, so we headed to the pool and I got to enjoy some of the fun Paul had been having. It's funny because Scarlett has always loved the water, but from one time to the next at the pool it's like she grows leaps and bounds. While we were in Miami she started jumping off the side of the pool (standing rather than sitting and plopping in like she had been doing) and doing a doggy-paddle type movement with her body. It didn't take her long to get confident with her new abilities -- so confident in fact that she decided she could swim on her own. We used to be able to swim on our backs and she'd hang on to our necks and go for a ride. Starting in Miami, she would ride for a few second and then jump off of us into the open water! She's crazy. In any case, it all means you have to keep a very close eye on her because she doesn't understand the concept of drowning yet but also hasn't mastered floating... If she could just learned to float with her upper body (she knows how with her legs) then she really could swim by herself, but she tires out pretty quickly. I will say however that we spent hours in the pool with her and we still had to drag her away crying and screaming. I think she would have stayed at the pool all night. That girl just loves to swim.

We headed out the next day and despite having a little trouble with the Miami cab company, we didn't really have any issues on the plan ride back. It wasn't a full flight so we had a whole row to ourselves and Paul even got her to sleep for a little while. After we got back, we drove up to Columbia, MD for Wine in the Woods. We got there pretty late and missed most of the wine, but we visited with Bonnie, Mike and their friends for a little while before grabbing dinner and going to our hotel. We had decided to stay in Maryland for the night because Dave was participating in his first triathalon the next morning so we needed to be there at 7:30 AM. Considering Scarlett doesn't even wake up until 8:30, that's an early morning for us! We also got a bunch of poster board and markers so that we could make some signs to support Dave, but we never got to use them too much.

Needless to say, Dave finished the race and it was a very emotional day for everyone involved. It's sort of mind blowing that in less than a year he went from finding out he had Leukemia to participating in a triathalon and probably being healthier than he was before the diagnosis. We are all VERY proud of him and Scarlett loves her Uncle Dave. He's already signed up for another one...

The top few pictures on this post are of Scarlett at the playground at Glebe Road Elementary School. It's very close to our house and would be Scarlett's school if we still live here when she's of that age. We love the playground because it's big and not overly crowded. That night it was just Scarlett and a family of 4 or 5 kids. The other kids ranged in age from 1 to about 13 or 14. Scarlett made friends with a 4 year old girl who wanted to carry her around the playground. I was a little nervous at first since Scarlett is pretty lanky and over 20 pounds. I followed them around making sure she didn't drop her and trying to stay close by in case Scarlett got nervous. It soon because clear that Scarlett had no interest in me being there at all. Any time the girl put her down, Scarlett thrust her arms out toward her again asking to be picked up. It was funny because she got very quiet and wasn't talking at all (almost a submissive thing) but was very clingy with the bigger kids and quite happy to be treated like an over-sized doll. The funniest thing was that then the girl's older brother wanted to carry her around too and they started fighting over who got to carry her and for how long. I thought she might be put off by the boy because he was pretty rambunctious, but she didn't bat an eye. Same thing... if he put her down, she asked to be picked up again. She really loves older kids. She started crying when we finally said it was time to go. Hopefully we'll see them again there soon!

Easter, Nana, and Gigi (Flossy)!

Scarlett had Easter at 3 houses this year, but looks like we only have pictures for two of them. I know there are pictures from Aunt Tracy's house somewhere! Anyway, we had a very busy weekend. We started at our house and had a mini Easter appetizer, but then headed up to Baltimore for the main course, and finished with dessert at Aunt Tracy's. Scarlett was able to hunt for her first Easter eggs and it was great to watch. It was like a practice run for future hunts. We guided her along and pointed her in the right direction. Late morning, we went to the Baltimore "BonanZoo" and Scarlett had her first encounter with the Easter Bunny. Did it go smoothly? Not really! Who wouldn't be startled by an overgrown furry rodent with a big head. Anyone remember the menacing ROUS's? Imagine that from the eyes of a 17 month old! Things did get better. We danced with the one man kids band, collected plastic eggs and turned them in for prizes, and took what we thought was a safari ride, but it really just took us down the road for about a thousand feet. We didn't stay too long. It started raining, but at least we were able to ride most of it out under a tent while the singer entertained us.

Afterwards, we went to the Harbor for lunch and walked to the Science Center, http://www.mdsci.org/. This was a good and bad idea. It was great because there was so much for Scarlett to do, but bad in terms of logistics for a great-grandmother who is extremely active but still 93 years old! We walked quite a bit throughout the day, and gigi was feeling it. Luckily the Science Center had wheelchairs available and she was able to rest. There were dozens of places for Scarlett to play, and we were all entertained throughout. I did have to make an unscheduled trip to CVS however. We did not bring enough diapers and Scarlett was filling up! As I left the building, I noticed a couple carrying a baby slightly smaller than Scarlett. I actually walked up to them and asked if I could bum a diaper! Unfortunately they were too small for her. We all had a laugh because most people around there beg for change... First, I ran into a 7-11 thinking I could take care of this quickly. Nope. Then went to a neighborhood convenience store. Nope again. Finally a CVS. As I was briskly walking back I received a phone call. She is blowing out!!! I sprinted the rest of the way and we finally took care of the issue.

Did Scarlett sleep at all this day? If I recall she did for 20-30 minutes.

Easter egg hunt at Aunt Tracy's- Tracy, with help from the Easter Bunny, had eggs and candy EVERYWHERE! Front yard, back yard, candy in the middle, drinks, food, adult beverages... Scarlett made out like a bandit. There were real eggs, plastic eggs filled with various goodies including CASH! Mommy and Daddy were trying to get in on that one!!! Scarlett consumed plenty of candy and food that day.

What a wild, busy, fun-filled Easter weekend.

Mommy @ SIOP

Daddy and I had a good week even though mommy was gone. Did you see the Caps jersey? If you say C - A - P - S I will say CAPS CAPS CAPS!!! Yes, I'm only 16 months old, but I am mature for my age, and I love the CAPS!!!

That was the end of the week, but as you can see, I love to sleep. I love to sleep in my bed, in daddy's bed, and at the playground. I sleep 8 to 12 hours a day although I hate the act of falling asleep. Mommy and Daddy spend a lot of time trying to get me to sleep. Once I am there, I am staying there!

I am a goof ball. Did you see me ride Axle? If you think that is funny, check out the picture where I placed a potato under the elephant's butt. Does it look like Doodie? HAHAHHAAHAA.

Well it is up to you to decide which picture is the funniest or cutest. It will be tough this week! I was soooooo cute and funny :)

Play, Play, and More Play

Wow did we do A TON this week! Ringling Brothers front row VIP seats followed by a day at Port Discovery in Baltimore, a kids play house in Bethesda, and our local Glebe Elementary playground.... and crabs for a surprise HumRRO birthday party. Phew. The 2nd weekend in April (I believe, Shonna can correct) we went to Baltimore (Seasides in Pasadena) for crabs Friday night after work. Went home and went BACK to Baltimore on Saturday for the circus. Shonna bought special secret tickets and wouldn't you know it, they were front row VIP seats! What makes a VIP seat? The ability to go onto the actual circus floor during part of the show. We enjoyed it, but I'm not so much Scarlett did. If it wasn't for the midg... little person who fascinated her, we might have had to leave the floor. But he was there :) Not only was Scarlett fascinated, but so were her parents. This little guy was more athletic than most people twice his size. I wish we had video to show his skills. Overall, Scarlett had a really good time.