Dinner Party

Three guesses as to what Sweet Girl's favorite food of the moment is. Pasta with red sauce! Whenever something comes across the menu that's not directly in line with Miss Fuss's wishes, Mama and Daddy can always whip up a plate of elbow macaroni and marinara and all will be well in the world of Little Monster. In particular, she's been on a sausage kick of late, and in addition to breakfast sausages, Tiny Terror will power through an entire link of turkey sausage with dinner. Be careful, Miss Fuss — too much sausage can turn you into a wee chublet!

This weekend, while Mama was at work, Daddy took Sweet Girl out to the backyard, where she splashed around in her giraffe swimming pool. The water was a bit brisk, but Little Monster sure loves to play in the pool, so she toughed it out. Daddy couldn't find Sweet Girl's bathing suit (it had become wet in the diaper bag earlier), so it was a white-trash afternoon in the pool, spent wearing only a swim diaper. Daddy, have some dignity for your daughter.

On Sunday, Joddie came over for dinner when Mama got off work. Daddy had made a pot of chicken and andouille (more sausage for Baby Girl, of course) gumbo, and Little Werewolf was a charming hostess. She showed Joddie her new ability to eat with her own spoon all by herself. She also rubbed some gumbo into her hair and hammed it up for the camera a little bit, as you can see. Note the spoon in hand, as Baby Girl demonstrates her abilities at self-sufficiency. In fact, between an afternoon in the pool on Saturday and gumbo dinner on Sunday, Sweet Girl has had more baths than she can remember this weekend.

Still Unpacking

This house is haunted by a spooky baby girl!

Mama and Daddy are still grinding away at getting rid of these boxes, but it seems like every time they turn a corner, there's another box full of stuff ready to be unpacked. Daddy actually put his foot down the other day and said "We're not buying any more stuff!" but Sweet Girl thinks she can probably cajole him into purchasing another toy when she wants one.

Madeleine's favorite morning activity is to play near the sliding glass door. This morning she watched as birds bobbed around on the back deck and hopped around just outside her reach. She also likes to climb through the curtains and emerge from behind them with a stage magician's flourish. "Everyone, look — it's me!"

Tickle Bug also likes to spend quality time with Mama while she's unpacking. As Mama was setting up the butcher's block with cookbooks, Wee Goblin decided it was high time that someone read to her, so she crawled into Mama's lap. What Mama read her wasn't important (though Baby Girl might have learned a little bit about frangipane and cannoli), it was the spending time together that was key.

Little by little, Tiny Terror helps Mama and Daddy get the house in order, sometimes by playing with toys, and at others coming from the far end of the house to make sure that Daddy is making progress in the office and not just napping on the couch. Daddy needs watching, you know.

All Moved In

Well, the move went off without a hitch. Everything was boxed up and moved by 1:00 Monday afternoon. Of course, now all that remains is for Mama and Daddy to get all these boxes unpacked, and it seems slow going. Who knew so much junk could fit into a kitchen?

Little Monster has really taken to her new house. She spends a lot of time tearing back and forth through the open floorplan, among the reading room, the dining room, the kitchen, and the living room, with sometime stops in Mama and Daddy's room to slam the doors and rampage through the closet.

Sweet Girl broke the house in with a little Subway for lunch, and she ran Joddie ragged while Daddy hung curtains and Mama did the floors. There's just no stopping the Wee Goblin when she wants to go outside. In fact, she knows which doors lead outside, and she's not averse to standing in front of them and "subtly implying" that it's time to go out.

Tiny Terror also likes to climb in and out of boxes, as you can see. Mama also has her inflatable giraffe swimming pool all set up — on the living room floor, which has proven a real boon to Mama and Daddy's sanity.

Tonight was Little Werewolf's first bath at the new house, and she loves the bathroom, which is a little more spacious than her old one and much nicer, with a granite tub motif. She really needed the bath, too, because after two days of crawling around the floors and whipping the yard into shape, she was filthy.

Mama goes back to work tomorrow, so Sweet Girl and Daddy will have the evening home alone. Daddy doesn't know what dinner's going to be yet, but if one thing's for sure, it's not going to be fast food again! Everyone has had too much junk to eat over the past several days, so it's time to get back into good habits.

Speaking of eating, Sweet Girl demonstrated a new talent today. She ate her macaroni and cheese all by herself, with her little plastic bowl and her little plastic fork. She's a clever girl, and probably ready to give Daddy a run for his money at seeing who can gobble the most.

Tomorrow Is Moving Day

Sorry we don't have any pictures today, Baby Girl enthusiasts, but the requisite wires are all boxed up. We did get a great picture of Sweet Girl enjoying her sandwich on the floor with Mama, Daddy, and Joddie as we had a get-ready day at the new house putting up curtains and assembling the kitchen.

In just a few short hours we'll be en route to the new place, and Little Monster is very excited. She spent all day tearing around the place and yard while big people tended to the details. Daddy chased all the yucky spiders our of her room and Mama got her pack and play ready for the big day (and requisite naps) tomorrow. The next time we update, we'll have some great new pictures for you!

Madeleine's First Nursery

Well, seeing as how we're packing up the house for the big move, Mama thought it was appropriate to take some pictures of Madeleine's first nursery. There are many fond memories we'll have of our little apartment, but here we are, off to start another chapter in the Achilli family saga!
As Mama is posting, she hears some racket in the bathroom:
What girl can resist makeup and jewelry? Apparently not this one!

Posting Drought

It's been hectic around here, Madeleine fans, as we prepare to pack up the house and move across town over by the drive-in and near Grant Park. The tape gun going at night doesn't wake the little princess, so Mama and Daddy schedule sprints of box-packing at night.

Baby Girl has had a savage appetite of late. The other day she ate a breakfast of eggs, two sausages, and a muffin. For lunch, she had 10 — 10! — chicken nuggets. For dinner she had an entire chicken quesedilla and a side of macaroni and cheese with peas and tuna. Is there anything this voracious wee beast won't eat? Well, yes, actually. She's none to fond of those peas. She makes a monstrous face and spits them out, followed by a grin so she doesn't get in trouble. A week ago, Mama found a single, forlorn pea abandoned behind the entertainment center.

This past Sunday was Theron's birthday, and Miss Fuss was not a good birthday guest. She wanted to walk up and down the stairs at the Brick Store while all the big people chatted and had a few beers. When Little Monster wouldn't be indulged, she had a little tantrum and Daddy found it easier to just take her home. Word on the street is that Spencer was similarly dispositioned, and Rachel took him home, too.

Mama and Daddy are just days away from closing, so the next entry at this blog might well be a picture of Sweet Girl frolicking in her new backyard. Fingers crossed, friends and family!

Hard At Play for the Holiday

If you asked Baby Girl how she got brown sugar between her toes, she probably wouldn't have a very good answer for you, but it definitely involved Mama spilling some of it in the kitchen. She devoured a couple of handfuls quicker than Mama could pick it up, and ended up a sticky mess. Boy, was she proud of herself!

Miss Fuss had a very full holiday weekend! On Friday, she went with Mama and Daddy to meet with the inspector at the house. As it turns out, there's a roof ventilation problem Daddy is going to ask the seller to fix, because it just won't do to have Sweet Girl in a house that is too hot. She's delicate and might swoon! (Actually, she'll probably tear around all over the place and get all sweaty, but we won't tell the seller that.) After that she joined her friend Oliver at Matador for some Mexican food, and where she also performed the Booty Dance on the couch in the lounge.

Saturday was full, too. She started her day not wanting a thing to do with the egg Daddy fried for her, so she devoured one of the muffins Mama had made. After that, she went to Steinbeck's, where she tried to swipe Daddy's Chicago dog and Mama's beer, and then ate all of the garlic shrimp Mama ordered for herself! Then Oliver came by with his parents, and she also met a little boy named Declan who sat at the table next to her. When Daddy held Declan, Wiggle Worm had a suspicious look on her face. The look said, "No, I don't want a little brother, thank you." Then came a trip to the grocery store and a stern refusal of a nap. For dinner, Little Monster had TWO bowls of rotini with red sauce. With all the eating going on for the Fourth of July, Baby Girl was tired, so it was bath and bed before the fireworks got started. Sweet Goblin missed a party at her friend Vincent's house, but since she skipped her nap, she really needed to sleep.

When Wiggle Worm woke up on Sunday, she was hungry again, surprise, surprise, so Daddy made her a sausage frittata. He and Mama were supposed to visit Jeremy and Jenny for their engagement brunch, but Miss Fuss decided to scream all morning instead of taking a nap. Daddy had to go to the brunch himself while Mama stayed home with Wee Crablet. The afternoon turned around, though, because Sweet Goblin visited Monkey Joe's where she proceeded to climb everything in sight and even ride some of the slides.

Tonight, Baby Girl will have some tofu for dinner, since Daddy's making stir-fry. We'll see how that goes.

She also sported her oh-so-fabulous and up until now, too big, Pedoodles today. Baby Girl was one stylin' monster. Mama has a feeling that we will take every chance we get to wear those adorable shoes, courtesy of Grandma Raye.

Variation on the "Booty Dance"

If you'll remember, Madeleine used to love doing the "Booty Dance" in her Exersaucer. Mama and Daddy would get a kick out of the swinging toys and the intense look on her face. Now Little Monster has taken the dance to a new level. Enjoy.