Gobs of rain today.

I took Josh to the mall to play since it was so wet outside. It afforded me a chance to also do some post holiday shopping, though I didn't get far on account that Josh has no patience.

I learned recently that Play-Doh can be used to dampen the sound on super noisy toys! Josh got an Elmo Tool Bench for Christmas from his grandparents. The only problem is that there is no volume control and when you're standing next to the speaker (like all toddlers would be), it's effin' loud. So I stuck some yellow clay into the plastic volume holes. It's still a little loud, but it's not deafening.

I'm supposed to pick up Emily from DFW soon. Her flight got diverted here on account of the storms in the area. Apparently she's really upset because she was on her way to meet her boyfriend's family in DC before going back to the Navy in Chicago. She's probably bummed that she won't get to spend time with him. While I'm sad she's missing time with her dude, I'm secretly thrilled that she's staying the night with us. I miss the days when she lived here and we could goof off anytime.

This converting from crib to toddler bed is a time consuming transition. As I'm sure many others will be. Unless Josh is asleep or falling asleep, he has a tendency to get out of bed and either play or run to another room. I have a stool outside his room that we sit on waiting for him to go to sleep. If he thinks we're by the door, he won't get out of bed and eventually goes to sleep. So far this technique works and sitting by the door takes anywhere from a few minutes to almost half an hour. Luckily we have enough light from the master bedroom to read a bookwhile we wait for him to fall sleep. I'm hoping this will help him to go to bed, stay in bed and put himself to sleep.

Time to get Em'.

What a whirlwind of a Christmas! Quick run down of the happenings, then I'm off to nap...

Friday- Left for vacation the very day after Rusty got over his cold and Josh stopped wheezing his cold. We spent the night in Amarillo where we got a call warning us about impending snow on the mountains.

Saturday- We decided to risk it and left for Ridgway, CO anyway as scheduled- we encountered no problems! Josh got car sick at the last 20 minutes of the drive. It was totally gross!

Sunday- Refreshed, we trekked up the mountain to Telluride with Cameo & Lee where we shopped, ate and played.

Monday- We left Ridgway for Boulder taking I-70. It took us all day. We stopped at Alysia's for a break before going to Jeff's house.

Tuesday- Pretty boring. Josh played at Pearl Street Mall, we bought books & coffee. Josh napped 3 hors then we met Laura, John & Alysia at a brew pub. Later, we stopped by my grandmother Betty's for a visit.

Wednesday- the snow was coming down fast so we decided to go to town quickly for food in case we got stuck in Jeff's bachelor pad. We got down from the mountain fine but quickly realized we wouldn't be able to go back. Leaving our stuff at Jeff's, we made hotel arrangements and checked in. I had 2 white Russians from the bar efore we walked to a grocery store for necessities.

Thursday- I walked to Alysia's to retrieve my phone that I forgot and a couple other things. She took me to my car parked half a mile from the hotel to shovel it out. That afternoon Rusty found someone to take him up te mountain to get our luggage. yay!

Friday- despite everyone's warning, we decided to leave town for Plainview. We brunched with Laura & John then headed out. The roads were fine but slow between Denver & Co. Springs. We hopped onto US-50 which was great until La Junta, where the day's slushed turned to ice & snow pack. It was slow going, but we had no problems. We made it to Plainview at 2am.

Saturday- We wake up, have breakfast, shower, play then head out for home. The trip home was uneventful- as it should be.

Sunday- My mom flies in to join us for Christmas. We cook for everyone at Rusty's parent's house and open gifts.

Monday- We return to Rusty' parent's house for Christmas dinner and open a few more gifts left over. Josh decides he can climb out of his crib so we convert it to a toddler day bed. We're all getting used to this change.

Tuesday- Mom & I have breakfast at Ikea then I take her to the airport in the afternoon.

Wednesday- Shopping and gift exchanging.

Thursday- That's today! Josh got his second round of flu shot, I developed Christmas pictures, Josh played at the park and now he's sleeping.

And so will I soon since Josh woke up several times during the night.

Josh is sick with a cold again. I think he got it from his friend Micah after being watched for a couple hours during my dentist appointment Thursday. As usual, and unfortunately for everyone, his breathing has become labored requiring vapor breathing treatments every couple of hours. This really puts a damper on our weekend plans. We can't get a Santa picture if Josh is sick, no family portrait like I was hoping to do, and we'll miss a holiday party tomorrow. Josh won't eat anything and only sleeps an hour or two at a time- even at night. So I'm exhausted, Rusty is napping and Josh is just miserable. :(

Having a bit of blue hair has been fun. I get compliments from people I wouldn't expect. Waiters. Cashiers. Nine year old girls. A 2 year old at the park pointed to my head and said "blue hair" to her mom. I got the color redone to be more blue and less blue-green. At the salon a lady asked why blue? Because it's a bold color. And I like blue. When it fades it doesn't look like a highlight gone wrong- it looks deliberate. There's no question that I intend for some part of my hair to stand out. Rusty says it makes me seem young because it's playful.

My dentist appointment today was not fun. I was supposed to lose a metal wire retainer (called a lower bonded retainer, cuspid to cuspid) that runs behind my front lower teeth and have a cracked tooth patched up in the back. My dentist numbed my right side and started working on removing the wire, which is supposed to be a quick and relatively easy procedure. Instead, the wire retainer took forever to remove due to an excessive amount of cement and bonding. And then she discovered a small cavity at the bottom of one tooth where the cement and wire concealed it from x-rays and check ups. So her attention shifted to the newly found cavity. I got numbed then on the other side of my mouth. By the end of the appointment I felt like my tongue was as big as a foot. And I had that feeling I was drooling, even though I wasn't. It's a weird feeling for me to feel my bottom teeth from the back again. I can feel the cracks between each tooth and the smooth backs of each tooth. Especially my canines. My dentist felt bad for me having to endure a painful removal and to have a cavity that I couldn't have prevented and now have to pay for it's treatment. She said the workmanship of the wire retainer was over-engineered and wondered why people do stupid things like this. Sadly, it's not the first time a dentist has inflicted tooth problems on me. When I was 12 I was eating a cookie when parts of a tooth crumbled out in my mouth. Alarmed I told my mom who took me a dentist. Turned out some dentist capped a cavity on the tooth when I was 9 but didn't clean it out very well so it decayed slowly over time until the cap had nothing left to hold onto- hence pieces of tooth falling out in my mouth. This is all very gross and probably not what you want to read about. It's a lesson though. That doing a hasty job, not taking the time to something right, can have a major repercussions years later. Especially in dentistry! I still have a cracked tooth that will be worked on next month.

We're planning to take Josh to see Santa for the first time this weekend. Secretly I hope I get a good picture of Josh crying on Santa's lap. Not because I want him to cry but because I think it makes for a cuter picture. (That's my dark humor talking.) But if we get a happy smile that would be good too. Personally I think it's a little creepy all these kids sitting on some old dude's lap. I know, I know... from the kids' perspective it IS Santa their talking to. The older kids know it's someone who will pass on the list to the REAL Santa after the mall gig. I've never been all cheer and gung-ho about Christmas as an adult. Somehow by next year I'll have to change my tune for Josh's sake. For him, this will be the biggest time of the year. And it's my job as parent to play it up. Until then- I'll bah hum bug it while I can! :-P

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