Wearing out our welcome

Since house construction began in earnest, we've enjoyed a Friday night ritual of sorts-- I feed Ally her dinner early, and when Rob arrives home from work at 5:30 we head to the house to crawl around and check out what has happened during the past week. We look forward to it all week long, especially as the construction becomes more and more like our house rather than a generic shell. Sometimes it is hard to carry Ally for the entire visit, but during our walk last night she was especially good, perhaps realizing how excited we were to see drywall in the house for the first time!

We look forward to visiting the house because life in the condo is becoming more challenging. As excited as we are to watch Ally discover running and the high pitches to which her voice may be tuned, our neighbors seem less enthralled and have taken to banging on the walls and ceiling when she gets a bit too enthusiastic. This week early in the morning we found a note attached to our door:

...there seems to be a lot of noise coming from your unit (sounds like running mostly). Unfortunately, any little sound seems to carry from unit to unit, and especially any noise on the floor. The noise has been on a daily basis, several times during the day and evening. We would greatly appreciate anything you can do to help keep the noise level down.

The note was phrased politely, and we responded in kind with apologies for the noise. We don't want to be bad neighbors. But we also can't keep Ally from moving or squealing or making noise. So we are very eager to move. The good news? We just received our settlement day: November 26. 58 days and counting.

mommy?

Though "mama" and "dada" were sounds Ally made early in her vocalization training, quite a bit of time passed before it was clear to me that these sounds had specific meaning to Ally when she said them. About a month ago Ally discovered the word daddy, which she suddenly began to say with joy and exuberance every time Rob appeared. A jingle of keys at the door? Daddy!!!! Driving home from daycare with me? Daddy, daddy, DADDY!!! It was enough to make a Mom feel rather secondary if not, put simply, invisible.

But then suddenly today Ally looked directly at me and said, Muhmeee. Then she crawled into my lap happily for singing and reading. It continued throughout the day and I felt my status in the house slowly rise. Rob reports that when I turned the lock in the door returning from the grocery store, Ally looked and said Mommy. Combine this with Ally's new ability to sign and say "Please" and I'm a rapidly transforming into a pushover. What, you want to carry rocks around our cul de sac while Daddy looks at the construction? Sure, sweetie. As long as you say "uh oh" in that cute way when you drop one.

fashion show

Rob and my wardrobes are not extensive enough to require switching items in and out of our closet as the seasons change. Ally however keeps growing and growing, and often the change in seasons coincides with a change in size. At 32 inches long she is moving into 24 month/2T clothing, though the pants tend to be too long still.

The cooler weather this morning prompted us to bring out an 18-month sized one piece outfit we bought a couple weeks ago. It is the kind of outfit she often wore last fall, but we quickly realized why this kind of outfit is less common in toddler sizes. With its tapered legs and roomy diaper area, the silhouette is not flattering.

Later in the day I retrieved our bins of 18-month and 24-month sized clothing borrowed from family, friends, and neighbors. The quantity of items was quite extraordinary and Ally has quite a wardrobe for the fall and winter! Of course some items are more appealing than others. As thankful as we are for the incredible generosity of so many, we invite the lender of these jeans to come forward so we may return them.

is it door number 1, door number 2, or door number 3?

Because our home is the first of its kind to be constructed, it has been interesting and exciting to see our concept of the home materialize into real space as the weeks go by. The construction has progressed very quickly lately. As a new home, however, the builder is still determining which features of the home will be changed for our house and for future construction. This week we observed trial runs with three different door styles. Now that the brick has been installed, I hope this is the final choice!

magical mystery cup

  On Saturday night we visited our local Mexican restaurant for dinner. Ally did great with the food and enjoyed a chicken enchilada, rice, and beans. As the meal continued she began to make her gesture for wanting something-- she outstretches her hand and opens and closes her fingers while kicking her feet and, on occasion, making an urgent grunty noise. This time she wanted my glass of water with its alluring bendy straw. She does a pretty good job of drinking from a straw, but an open glass invites a big mess (particularly when she plunges her hand into it). Our waitress, who saw me trying to give Ally a sip of my water, took pity on us and asked if we would like one of their special kid cups, described as "colorful with a bendy straw." Heck yeah! Ally was presented with a plastic cup that indeed sported a flexible bendy straw and a top like a giant crayon. And then the 48-hour love fest with CUP began. Ally carried the cup nonstop for almost two days. After naps she would see it on the countertop and say with great determination, CUP. Her love for the cup led her to drink so much water that we had to change her diaper almost every hour Sunday in the late afternoon. Who knew.

15 tuesdays

Our last semester has begun. Rob continues to plug away at his research project and I have started my last class, Algorithms, which meets two evenings a week from 5:30 - 6:45. Though the class is going to be tough, by far the greatest challenge is the sadness of every Tuesday through December: go to work before Ally wakes, pick her up at daycare around 4:15, arrive home at 4:30, at 4:45 leave for school, and finally at 7:30 in the evening return home after she goes to bed. On Wednesday morning, I again leave for work before she wakes. Nearly 48 hours pass between her bedtime Monday and when I pick her up on Wednesday with only 30 minutes together, and though I know Rob is with her and she is happy, I miss her so much it aches.

day trip

On Sunday we visited with Beth's parents Clark's Elioak Farm, which is not only a farm and petting zoo, but also the new home of a number of pieces from the Enchanted Forest, which Rob remembers seeing as a child. Since Ally has learned "moo," "quack," and other slightly less distinct animal noises, we thought she may enjoy seeing more live animals. She was able to pet goats, sheep, and a cow. There were also ducks, geese, rabbits, and chickens, but they were more complicated to pet.

The pieces from the Enchanted Forest have been restored beautifully. Some are for looking only, but others are available for climbing. Ally's favorite was the big shoe, which had a very fast slide in it.

Of course these amusements pale in comparison to the excitement of grass. GRASS!!