Building Blocks...

Caitlin & Daddy have fun with one of the simplest toys out t here, who would've known?!

We got told!

Last night, Ben asked Caitlin to "Come here, please!" and here's the response we got from our daughter, who was pouring cran-apple juice between two cups--"I busy Daddy!". We couldn't believe it and were practically rolling on the floor! We couldn't help it, it was just so funny. I have no idea where she picked it up but, kids are like sponges, they absorb everything.

Thanks goes to: http://www.sowhimsy.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWCATS&Category=204 for the image.

Yes, even more pictures

Caitlin-the Icing Queen

You'll have to excuse the camera, the date messed up--again! These really were taken on her actual birthday, July 24th.

Birthday Bash Take Two

Caitlin's cake--the Wiggles, of course! Ben had coffee brownies! Yum!

Ben opening his grill tools--totally clueless.

Caitlin-resting er chewing between opening presents.
The big suprise--the Weber!
Grandpa helping Caitie learn to ride her Retro Radio Flyer Trike.

Birthday Bash 7-24-05

Caitlin got a big kick out of this stoller ($2 garage sale treasure) and Cabbage Patch. Everyone said the doll looked just like her!


Cool Mommy, now I have a bus & a car!
These are some pictures from the "Birthday Bash" that was celebrated at my parents house on Sunday. We had 5 birthdays to celebrate (Caitlin, Ben, my two brothers and brother's fiance) so there was a lot of presents, wrapping paper and chaos! Be prepared for another round of pictures. :)

She's a Big Girl now!

Caitlin celebrated her 2nd birthday today and officially crossed the treshold from infant to "big girl". We are left to sit back and wonder where all of the time went. It seems, that in a blink of an eye, Caitlin went from dependent baby to self-assured (even fearless) toddler. Here's a little flashback I thought of tonight:

Bug, as I sit here watching you ride your tricycle with Daddy, I'm amazed at the progress you've made in the 2 short years that you've been a part of our lives. From learning to crawl underneath the kitchen table to taking your first steps with Grandma, so many wonderful & amazing things have happened. Daddy & I feel so blessed to be your parents and to be able to share these moments with you. I can recall your first night home which such clarity that it seems like yesterday. I remember spending countless minutes watching you sleep in your cradle or bouncy seat, stroking your hair as you slept with your head on my shoulder and watching in awe as you learned to hold up your head. I remember hearing your giggle when Daddy took you "flying" for the first time or when we did raspberries on your tummy. Now, we watch you push your doll in her stroller, dance to the Wiggles or climb up a slide, give hugs and kisses, say "Please" and "Thank You", use the potty and carry on an understandable conversation. You have blossomed into a creative, loving and imagnative little girl, so unique in every way. We find ourselves in awe at some of the things that you do, it seems that you master something new every day. Daddy & I can't wait to share the days and years ahead with you as you grow and grow in your own special way. We can't wait to see all who Caitlin is to be. We will be there to guide you & love you every step of the way. These two years have been an adventure and we can't wait for the journey to begin!
Love, Mommy & Daddy

A big decision

Ben & I had to make a rather monumental decision this week. You see, Caitlin's babysitter is taking a two week vacation starting August 1st thru the 15th leaving us with no one to watch our little girl. We tried to call in favors with family members, called on a previous teenage sitter, etc. but no one could relieve us. Finally, Ben got the name of someone from his boss who would have a full time opening in August. As much as we didn't want to change day care providers, we'd had some issues with the current sitter--she took a lot of days off or closed early and she doesn't do much with the kids. Ben & I agreed that maybe it was time to find someone who would be more reliable and who would do fun things with Caitie.
So, we called Miss Mousey's House and agreed to meet with the owner/operator on Thursday. Caitlin made herself at home with the dress up clothes the moment we walked in the door. Being the careful parents that we are, we asked all of the right questions and were very impressed with the answers we received from Miss Mousey (not her real name).

Here's a breakdown of the difference between Miss Mousey's House & "Old Provider"---

Miss Mousey's House:

• Licensed provider
• Early Childhood degree
• Activities for kids away from site (library story times, gymnastics, etc.)
• State certified preschool program
• Hardly any days off
• No problem keeping Caitlin late, if necessary
• Caitlin starts at the "toddler" rate

"Old Provider":

• Licensed provider
• Kids restricted to home and backyard
• No preschool program at the moment
• Takes days off with little/no notice & long vacations
• Charges if 5 mins late, will not keep past 5:30
• Not very adaptable to schedule changes

After making the decision that we would switch providers, we knew we had to call our current provider and give her the required notice. We called her last night and boy, did she ever start reading us the riot act. We have to give her 3 weeks paid notice that we're terminating our contract. So, on top of paying for Miss Mousey's house, we will have to shell out another $250+! That's over $700 worth of day care for August. Holy smokes! Somehow, we'll figure out a way to afford it because we really think that Miss Mousey will be a better choice for Caitie in the long run. Of course, we're nervous like any parent would be having to make this kind of decision. All we can do is hope & pray.

(Thanks to: http://www.cybertales.co.uk/Molly%20Mouse%20pics/Mouse%201.jpg for the picture!)

Hats Off To You, Baby?!

It's happened--Caitlin had her two year
Well Baby check up earlier this week. Here
are her stats:

• Height: 35 3/4" She was just about to the end of nurse's height thingamabob. 92% percentile for height. Gee, I wonder where she gets that from?!
• Weight: 26#, up about 2 pounds from her last visit. Caitlin has never been a "chunky" baby and this was just fine with her doctor. She is in the 50% percentile for weight which is right where an active toddler should be. I swear though, it feels like Caitlin weighs much more when I'm balancing her on one hip and a load of groceries in the other hand.
• Head circumference: 50.2cm I think she was in the 95% perecentile for that. Again, no clue where she gets her big head from!

Her upper and lower canines are working on coming in. She never does teeth one at a time, but in bunches. Once she gets these 4 in, I believe she will have all of her baby teeth.

Her rate at day care is going to drop from $22 to $19 a day because she is no longer classified as an infant.

When did this happen?! No warning, nothing! Denial is a powerful thing, especially for us mommies. First, we want them to grow up and learn to do new things and then, when we realize that they are growing up, we want them to be infants again. There are moments when I want to trade Caitlin in for a newer model. Ben has to remind me that we didn't lease Caitlin and no, she didn't come with a money-back guarantee. I've come to realize that if the journey has been this rewarding, the future can only be more so...bring it on. I will greet her accomplishments, mishaps, giggles and tears head on--but with a few tears, no doubt.

Another Bookworm! 

For the Love of Books 

Insulated Straw Sippy Cup 

Sparklin's Sipster 

Sippy Cup Favorite

Lauren, this post is for you--

My favorite sippy cup by far is the Playtex The Insulator Sport Straw Cup. It has many of the same features as the Rubbermaid one that Judy was raving about but it keeps drinks cold too. Caitlin chews the crud out of the plastic straw and it has still held up. The plastic attachment straw (the one that reaches down into the glass) detaches from the cup to be washed separately. We love these cups on hot summer days. Just pop a couple of ice cubes in with the drink and it stays cool for a long time. Just don't leave it in the car!

For the non-insulated type, I recommend the Sparklin' Sipster Spill-Proof Cup. I think they come in various sizes from 6-9 oz. These have handy handles too, which are nice for the little ones to tote around. Also hangs onto your pant pocket when both hands are full! *wink*

Now this is what I call a vacation?

To some, a vacation is going far, far away--to a tropical locale, perhaps. For me, simply having time to do nothing is enough. I have finally taken a much needed break from work and have fallen into the roll of nothingness. My house needs to be cleaned, errands ran but I'm more content to lounge around, watch Judging Amy & Law & Order reruns and make trips to the library. I've even been able to take naps! I miss the days of being able to decide what I want to do--anything from a long list of errands to soaking in the tub for hours on end. For once, it's nice not to have to balance a career, a toddler, a husband and a household. Oh yeah, got to take care of myself, at least marginially. No wonder my head was about to explode and I've been counting down the days to my vacation since April. Sometimes, as the mound of stress builds up between my should blades, I just want to run off up to a secluded location somewhere and sit, watching life go on around me. Life gets to be too much to handle sometimes and we need to hit the pause button. My thoughts are that it's high time that the United States get on track with the European Nations and allow (some mandate) its employed masses to "go on holiday" for 2 months a year in addition to bank holidays. Imagine how much more relaxed and pleasant people would be. The person taking your order behind the McDonald's counter might actually smile. I think our country would be a much more happy, satified place. Anyway, just a thought...
I plan to thoroughly enjoy what's left of my vacation because I will be back to the busy, busy rush of normal routine all too soon.

On the potty...

Due to the graphic nature of this picture,
viewer discretion is advised---
Although this is an old picture, it's perfect
for a pretty significant event (at least in the eye
of parents of a toddler) that happened today.
Caitlin went poop on the potty! She has
taken an interest in all things having to do
with the porcelain throne in the past month.
However, she has been content to just sit but
tonight was a monumental night! *sobs*
My baby is quickly becoming a BIG girl!

Our Day @ Arches National Park

Caitlin & I got up at dawn to travel about three hours to Moab, Utah to meet up with my parents ("Mom" & "Baca") and aunt Elaine who were vacationing in the area. Because of my work schedule, Monday was the only day I was going to be able to see Elaine before she returned to CT, so to Moab we went. Caitlin was an absolute angel during the entire (6 hours round trip) car ride and really enjoyed the "hiking" aka 100's of steps. Here are some pictures from our trip. I hope to get more from both Elaine & Baca's cameras (mine ran out of space--I keep forgetting to download and clear), so watch for updates.

Caitlin forges ahead 

Attempt & failure!
I was trying to get Caitlin to sit still for a picture
with her beloved Baca but, she wanted to hike
up...

Here...

Arches Galore 

Looking up at an arch 

View of "fins" 

Another arch 

I think this arch looks like a sillouette 

DeeDee & Mommy, Cooking & More

Just a little update...

Ben & I have evolved from Momma & Dadda to Mommy & DeeDee. So cute! If only we could get her to call my mom Grandma and not "Mom". We think Caitlin calls her that because all of her "kids" (5 right now) call her that. Truthfully, I think my mom finds it cute that Caitlin picked that name for her.

When I came home last night, I learned that our ever-imagnative daughter decided to put Emeril to shame. She was using her Little Tikes kitchen to cook up a wonderful meal using goldfish crackers and juice. She was crunching and stiring, cruching and stiring. Yummy!

Our Independence Day

In keeping with tradition, the extended McLean clan spent the day in the historic and tourist-y town of Ouray, CO. We arrived around 11:30 and went in search of lunch. We got seated right away (everyone else wanted to eat outside) at Buen Tempo, an upscale Mexican Restaurant. We sat, we ate and we watched the masses walking the streets of Ouray. You see, Ouray normally only has a year-round population of a couple thousand residents but the 4th of July weekend brings people from as far away as Manitoba! The small shops there stay open late hoping to cash in. Anyway, after having a satisfying lunch, we stood on a street corner to watch the annual Ouray Water Fight (not sure if that's the correct name). This is a tradition in Ouray in which the fire department breaks out its hoses, clears the street and lets you blast the heck out of your family & friends with its high pressured water. It was a lot of fun to watch! We got a little bit wet, but all in good fun. Afterward, we headed to the Ouray Hot Springs for a soak. We realized, being the neglectful parents that we are, that this was Caitlin's first trip to a public pool--and did we have the camera on hand, NO!! She had a blast in the bath-tub temperature water and even "went under" a few times. She's just a natural, a true fish. Now, we just have to get her signed up for swimming lessons.Upon finishing our relaxing soak, we unloaded our picnic supplies from my parents' Excursion (AKA the Beast) and staked our claim in the Ouray City Park. This is by far the best place to watch the fireworks. The park also has a lot of open green space as well as a play structure. Once you see the pictures below, you'll realize that's where Caitlin spent most of her time. She was totally fearless and climbed up a "big kid" ladder and went down a very big slide (with Momma & Dada supervising the whole time, nervously--I have no nails!)At dusk, we all huddled under blankets (temperature went from the upper 80's to the low 60's) to watch the fireworks. Caitlin hid behind her beloved stuffed dog for the whole show. I don't know, there's something magical about seeing fireworks in the mountains and hearing them echo off of the peaks. We admit to be a little confused by this year's show...its was almost like the did they entire sequence in reverse...no big BANG at the end.Anyway, here are some pictures from the park...more to follow for a disposable camera. Between pictures and short videos, we used up all of the memory on the digital camera! If only I could figure out how to post video clips...anyone know??

Heading up the "big kid" slide with Daddy watching. 

Here I come--head first! 

Deep thinking 

Crawling out of the tunnel...