Happy birthday, Addy

Let me be the first to say that Addy knows how to party. She turned two this week and hosted a killer Yo Gabba Gabba themed event in the toddler room.

She started with vegan cupcakes. 

A true lady knows when to wait and when to hogdog.

Then, she threw in the most amazing goodie bag I've ever seen in my life. Not being allowed screen time, thus never having seen Yo Gabba Gabba, I had to do a little research on the cracked out characters when I got home, but still, pretty amazing. Despite what the available marketing materials would have you believe, Yo Gabba Gabba isn't actually terrifying.

There was a coloring page. There was a box of animal crackers decorated to look like DJ Lance Rock's boom box. There was a pretzel rod dipped in red with a white dot on it. There was a ring with Toodee's face on it and an actual plush Toodee. I have taken my Toodee doll with me everywhere this week. I will not be separated from my Toodee.

 

I like that Toodee is too cool to stand next to the
rest of the Gabba crowd. I feel you, Toodee.

Is it a little awful that I'm somewhat glad Addy will have moved out of the toddler room before my next birthday, though? There's just no way I could come close to this level of party. I would just hate to disappoint everyone.

Princess culture has gone too far

I have no problem being feminine. For instance, check out my most adorbs lavender flower print jacket below. The pattern is perfect with striped pants. I don't care what you say.

That being said, I'll admit that I tend to avoid all things princess. I don't know why being prissy and helpless are the same as being girlie to so many of my contemporaries. As a female who wants to grow up knowing how to tie my own shoes and balance my checkbook (two important skills for any modern lady), the whole culture leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I could never be bothered to sit down and watch Disney's Sleeping Beauty because a 1950's film about a heroine who does nothing but sleep while she grows perfect hair is laughable, at best. So, I'm willing to admit the problem could be ignorance on my end, but Sleeping Beauty just seems out of place at the park.



Over it.

 

Listen, I'm all about expressing your personal style. It's just that a mass marketed, glorified Halloween costume seems neither personal nor stylish. It isn't exactly functional, either.

Sleeping Beauty's poufy dress hardly fits through the climbing tunnel. All of that tulle only serves to trip her while she stumbles from the climbing structure to the swings. Frankly, she's a hazard to the kids who are at the playground to run, climb and burn off a little steam from our stressful weeks.

Come to the park to play. Come to the park to get dirty. Come to the park to judge others. Just don't come to the park expecting me to call you Aurora and step aside for the princess if I was in line for the slide before you.

Farewell, my Batman cape wearing love

Conor is moving. Today is his last day. I am heartbroken.



And that's all I have to say about that.

Even two year olds need a victory now and then

Maybe there's some rule against looking put together in the toddler room. Let's just say I know Henry's preferred brand of diaper, now. You'll have to use your imagination because there's no way for me to put a picture up without some sort of federal agency investigating me.

This morning, Henry walked into the learning center with a new look. His hair was combed, he had on a shirt and a puffy coat (there's still snow on the ground in Chicago, after all). His socks were perfectly cuffed and his shoes were velcroed tight. On his face, Henry wore a defiant smile. Where one might have expected a pair of pants, there were none.

As he was escorted to the toddler room by both parents and his four month old sister, it wasn't completely clear what had gone down before Henry left the house, but it was very, very clear that he had won.

Daylight Savings

This whole losing an hour thing is killing me. I'm going to need a few more shots if anyone expects me to bring my A game to circle time.

I'm watching you, MacKenzie

Miss Susan might have missed it but I didn't.

It wasn't cool to take the drum Kendall was playing with while Miss Susan set up our apples and Cheerios this morning and it certainly wasn't cool to pull her hair and run away with said drum while Kendall rolled on the ground crying. Don't you know her hair has enough problems without your help?

Miss Susan thought she was dealing with a simple sharing problem and thought she was doing the right thing by merely taking the drum away from you. I know better.

I saw you take the seat Kendall had already claimed for snack time while she was washing her hands, too. I was more than happy to sit by Kendall, in her new seat, far away from your end of the table.

What is your damage? Why are you picking on Kendall so much today? You know what? It doesn't matter. I don't trust you anymore. You're violent, sneaky and you can't share. I hope you and Julian have a very happy life together.

Accessories are everything

You can say whatever you want about red and pink not matching. I say Coach goes with everything.