The joys of parenthood

If you have kids, you know how this goes... We're still trying to get Ellie back into a nap routine. At this age, she still needs an afternoon nap. Lately, Ellie doesn't agree but the facts are that she does. On Thursday, I got her all snuggled in at about 1:15. I recounted the tale of Goldilocks and then the Three Little Pigs. And then I told her it was nap time. Five minutes later, I heard her door open. I got her back in bed and told her that she needed to take a nap. Her music was playing and I mentioned that she needed to lay down, close her eyes and stay in bed until the music stopped. Another five minutes went by and I hear her door open. Ellie meets me at the top of the stairs and tells me "My music all done." Her CD is 65+ minutes long. It's been about 25 minutes since we started this dance. As I walked back in her room, I notice that her CD player is UNPLUGGED. Yeah Ellie, the music is all done. She didn't get a nap that day.

Campbell is going to walk before she ever really crawls. She does this weird "Ranger" crawl where she scoots on her elbows/forearms and knees around the house. I have yet to see her ramble around on her hands and knees. But just on her elbows, she's pretty darn fast. When she wants to get somewhere, she is gonna get there NOW!!!

Today, we went down to the Ft. Steilacoom Park. This playground has a "tot" area next to the regular one. Ellie likes the swings on the tot one but the roaming space on the other. The main playground looks like a castle. We climbed around on the different playgrounds for about 45 minutes before we got rained on. There was a McDonald's with a covered playground just up the road so we headed there for a weather break. We went back to the house for naps and Ellie kept trying to convince me that it was no longer raining even though it was. Within 10 minutes of laying down, Ellie was conked out. And later when we ran an errand in a downpour, Ellie was insistent that there was no rain and that we need to return to the castle playground.

I kind of miss the old playground...

At Ft. Wainwright, we had two playgrounds right across the street from the house. The closest one, to the new digs, Colgate Park, is a 5-10 minute car ride away. The trade off (and I think it's worth it) is that Colgate is shaded and has a fence around it. Ellie (and Campbell any day now) can't really get too far. And it's darn nice to spend an afternoon playing while it's 75 degrees outside and shady. I know, 75 isn't that warm. I don't know if I'll be able to live in Texas again after summers in Alaska and Washington.

Campbell is a big fan of the swings. She thinks they're groovy. Ellie likes them too but since she's mobile, she gets bored and wants to go climb on the playground after a few minutes. But then in true toddler fashion, she's back to the swings. And then back to the playground. And then the swings. And then the playground... You get the idea. A little farther north is the Titlow City Park. This one has two playgrounds, a duck pond, a swimming pool and a large walking path. We went there the other day for a picnic but the train that runs right beside the park freaked Ellie out big time and we ended up going back to our regular haunt at Colgate.

I'm pretty sure that if we let Ellie, she'd live at the playground. Down on the Sound is a town called Steilacoom that has a really nice surf side beach park. We'd go more often but since we're not Steilacoom residents, we have to pay $5 to park. Ellie can see the playground whenever we drive by on the back way down to Ft. Lewis. And every time, she tells me that we "have to" stop. I noticed some free parking up the hill near the small downtown so maybe I'll break out the double stroller and take them soon. Ellie also thinks that whenever we pass Fred Meyer's (a local grocery chain) during lunch or dinner time that "have to" stop in for their Macaroni and Cheese from the deli. I got in the habit when we were grocery shopping in Fairbanks to hit Fred's once a week during lunch time and we'd stop in the deli and get food. And now, Ellie only wants to eat it there. She doesn't want to get it to go. We have to eat it RIGHT NOW!!! Of course, I don't really object. They have better than average corn dogs in the deli too.

Tomorrow, we're going to hit one of the Tacoma Farmer's Markets. There are probably eight or nine Farmer's Markets within 12-15 miles of our house. I found a website listing some of the ones throughout Washington state. There are almost 125 statewide. Granted some of those are over in Spokane or north of Seattle. But compared the Fairbanks one, we should be able to get a much bigger selection of fruits, veggies, bread, etc. I will say one thing about the Fairbanks Farmer's Market... There was a woman there who sold the best English Cucumbers I've ever tasted. And Ellie definitely concurs. Puyallup supposedly has a nice one as well that takes place in downtown. We'll swing by there on Saturday to check it out.

Campbell is still just using her arms and legs to kind of "Army crawl" but dang if she isn't fast at it. We're starting to think she's going to walk before she ever really crawls. She's pulling herself up on things quite a bit. The other morning, I went in to get her and she was standing there holding on to the inside of the crib. We might need a crib canopy to prevent a jail break. Ellie thinks that Campbell is the perfect size to lay on. For the most part, Campbell doesn't mind. It's just when Ellie wants Campbell to give her a horsey ride that things get a little out of control. They get along really well though. When Campbell starts getting fussy in the car, Ellie is very helpful in trying to get her relaxed. They love to laugh and giggle together. I'm pretty sure that they are going to be ganging up on me very soon.

25 nights in hotels, 392 items tagged for moving...

And we're still unpacking. We moved into the new house two weeks ago. Our furniture arrived a week ago. But when you have this much stuff (and two kiddos underfoot) it takes a while to get it all put away. The downstairs is mostly done. Jennifer's office is still under construction but we have all the kitchen stuff put away and we can now cook more than just macaroni and cheese.

Ellie is sleeping in a big girl bed. We have yet to find some suitable rails for the sleigh bed we bought but with a body pillow in bed with her, she has yet to roll off onto the floor.

As you can see, the laundry room is a popular place to play. Campbell is happy being in whatever room I am right now. I don't have to be entertaining her at all, she's just content to be around.

Jennifer thought she was going to start classes on Monday (the 18th) but she found out today that none of her sections meet until at least July 5th. Hopefully we'll be able to get the house done and then maybe we'll take off for a day trip to the coast.