Tickle Bug Returns

Sweet Girl is back from her visit to Texas with Mama while Daddy had some business travel in Indianapolis and Cologne. She seems to have had a wonderful time, with a lot of swimming and a great deal of learning new things. Over the trip, Baby Girl has mastered her "no more" hand gestures, so she can tell Mama and Daddy that she's done eating. She's also become very proficient with using her fork at meals.

Since returning, Little Monster's appetite has been prodigious. Sausages seem to be her favorite breakfast, and Daddy figured it would be wise to go ahead and get the value pack at the grocery store, so Miss Fuss can power through 24 links at her leisure. This morning she had them in her frittata, and the other morning she had three with her banana and muffin. Good heavens, Little Werewolf!

Of course, travel can take it out of a person, and Baby Girl is no exception. She made an early night of it Thursday night, and after helping Mama and Daddy pick out a new car today, she took her bath and headed to bed just a few minutes before the evening games' kickoff. Daddy was thinking about taking her to see the game in person, since she enjoyed the baseball game so much, but this Sweet Goblin was too tuckered out.

Hot August Days

Good heavens, it's been a busy week. Sorry for the delays. With Mama working almost every day and her car being stolen out of the driveway, there's been a lot going on around here and it's tough place to be a Sweet Girl. Luckily, Little Monster remains in mostly high spirits. As if all that weren't enough, Baby Girl had a bug bite that caused her to break out in hives. When it rains, it pours.

It's sometimes hard to tell, but Little Werewolf does have hair that's growing in. Every now and then it does something really cute, like looping here in this little curl that stayed with Baby Girl all afternoon. Sometimes it gets really wild, like after a bath, and Miss Madeleine looks more like the Joker than a sweet little monster!

Of late, Wee Goblin has come to appreciate smoothies. With some banana, a handful of berries, a spoonful of sorbet, and some whole milk, this Little Monster will stay sated for a good half an hour. Since she's become a little finicky with her vegetables in the evening, sometimes the afternoon smoothie is the best way for Sweet Girl to get the food groups she needs. She especially enjoys drinking it with a straw, and when she's really happy, she spins around on her bottom by pushing herself with one foot. It's quite a silly dance to see!

Mini-Vacation

With the house settled (mostly) and the spiders clamoring for eminent domain, Mama and Daddy decided to take Little Monster on a trip. Daddy was thinking about the Biltmore, but Mama wanted something a little more Monster-friendly, so everything went into the car and Baby Girl came to Savannah, Georgia.

The trip itself was a bit rainy, and Miss Fuss made it with a minimum of squalls on her part. She got cranky only near the end. As with many road trips, lunch was Cracker Barrel, where Sweet Girl ate chicken and dumplings to her heart's content and took a turn on the little rocker out front. Daddy bought a piece of old-fashioned stick candy and sucked it down to a point. Mama rolled her eyes at him while Little Werewolf slept in the car seat.

When the family arrived at Savannah, Baby Girl decided it was go time, and after a very brief nap, took a stroll down River Street. She loved seeing the Spanish moss and feeling the cobblestones underneath the wheels of her stroller. The street musicians and bright lights of River Street held her rapt attention — but not so much that she couldn't polish off a half-dozen shrimp at the Oyster Bar. After that, she and Daddy climbed up and down the steps of the shorewalk and then headed back to the hotel for a bath and bed. It was ten o'clock before Tiny Terror went to sleep!

Thursday was the big day. It started with waffles for breakfast and after a brief car ride to Tybee Island, Little Monster faced down the ocean! She liked the lapping of the waves over her feet and the feel of floating, but she definitely did not like it when the waves crashed into her. Daddy had to carry her out past the surf, where she kicked her feet like a real water baby.

Swimming is hard work, so Sweet Girl decided to visit the Crab Shack for lunch. Once again, she did damage to a lot of shrimp, plus some potatoes and a cob of corn. She also visited the alligators while she was there, but they were lazy alligators, just basking in the sun. Little Monster scolded them for being so lackadaisical.

No time to rest! When Sweet Girl got back to the hotel, she took a brief moment to catch her breath, then she and Daddy visited the cemetery and the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. She also met a nice puppy dog in one of the city squares, and hollered at a blackbird and a squirrel. Then Mama joined them, whereupon they visited Leopold's for a shake and an ice-cream float. Baby Girl definitely has a sweet tooth when it suits her, and she charmed one of the businessmen in the store.

For dinner, Mama wanted to go to Bistro-Savannah on a friend's recommendation, but they were closed, so Sweet Girl led the charge across the street to Belford's. Little Goblin ate mostly pirate's booty, but she also tried a bit of Daddy's scallops, Mama's crab cakes, and the fried green tomatoes. It is Savannah, after all. Little Monster was adamant in her refusal to wear one shoe and sock, however.

No sooner did Little Monster finish dinner than a rainstorm threatened, so everyone hightailed it back to the hotel, where Baby Girl, despite skipping her morning nap and having only a half-hour afternoon nap, was still going strong. She rampaged around the room and played king-of-the-hill on the bed with an exhausted Mama and Daddy, and only when she finally started getting cranky did she retreat to sleepytime.

The next morning was a sausage and muffin breakfast for the Wee Goblin, and then the return trip to home in Atlanta. A brief stop along the way at Buffalo's took place, where Baby Girl taught them a thing or two about how to eat penne, but after that, Baby Girl was happy to be home and in her own bed.

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!