Long time, no post.

Wow, it's been a while hasn't it? Life has been stressful for the last few months, and when I get stressed I tend to hide. Things are looking up, and I'm emerging from my bubble.

Pearl is growing up so quickly. The other day I was watching some of our videos and started to cry. It was a mixture of happiness that she is a healthy, smart, and delightful girl, and a little bit of sadness that my little bean is now a little girl. Soon she'll be 16 and a whirlwind of emotions! It's going by so fast!

Pearl's updated list of words: duck, quack, mama, dada, nana, bumpa, mimi (mimsy), woof, apple, owl, ball, bad bed, baby, bubble, and more I'm forgetting. She has stopped giving kisses to us, but will heap tons of kisses onto inanimate objects. She loves brushing her teeth, washing her hands, having a bath, and putting cream on. Mimsy certainly taught the girl to moisturize at an early age, her skin will forever love her.

Pearl loves to clean, give the girl a cloth and she will clean anything. She likes to pick up the dog dishes after they have dinner and will ask for a cloth (in her gestures), then proceeds to wipe the floor. When we change her clothes she has to check herself out in the mirror. Sometimes I catch her strutting up and down the hallway, looking at her reflection the whole time. What a hoot!

Here are a few photos from the other day. In a couple of them she is enjoying some chicken which she kept dipping in ranch dressing that was on my plate. She would just suck off the dressing and dip the chicken back in. Little goofball Pearl.

You're So Vain...you probably think this blog is about you!

Pearl has discovered that she is one cute little girl. After she gets changed into a new outfit she will go and look in the mirror. She smiles and admires herself, as she should, adorable bug that she is. Mimsy put an elastic in her hair with plastic flowers the other day. Since then she will bring the bag of them to me and wants one in her hair. Not a problem, I love playing with her hair. We're such girls!

I'm a Model and I Do My Little Turn on the Catwalk

Pearl received oodles of clothes for Christmas! One of my favorites is the NCMC outfit from Nana and Bumpa. She looks so, so, so...sporty!



Nana requested a photo of Pearl in her pink Converse that were a fabulous gift from Aunt Bobbie. Here she is in all her glory.



Two random shots for the day: Pearl falling asleep in the car after shopping, and sitting on her Dad's knee, it's her favorite spot to watch a little television and snuggle.

The Joy of Socks & Odd Things as Hats

Hmmm...what's in that plastic bag on the back of Dad's chair? I'm going to crawl up and get it, whatever it is. Maybe Mommy won't notice. Ooohh, soft and squishy, I'll pull them all out and put them on the floor. One goes here, one goes there, this is fun! Mommy, will you put these on my feet?




This is soft and squishy too. Um, Mommy, why are you putting that on my head? You're lucky I love you, I'll forgive, but never forget.

Milkmaid

Today Pearl learned why it's not a good idea to grab for cups on a table. I was sitting on the sofa, heard a quickly drawn in breath, turned around, and found this...



Poor little bugaboo was dripping in milk. We got the floor and toys cleaned up, then plopped Miss Pearl into a bath. I tried so hard not to laugh at her, I failed miserably.

Pearl Pictures of the Day

We're going to give the PPotD another try. Pearl does many amusing things in the course of a day, so it shouldn't be hard getting some of it on "film". We'll give you a few this first day, do we ever get sick of pictures of the monkey?

Our first photo is after breakfast. No, those aren't cold sores, jelly was the culprit. Pearl just loves her some PB&J!



Mimsy handed some jingle bells to Pearl and she thought they were fantastic. Off she toddled, shaking the hell out of them. She did try them out for taste, but quickly came to the conclusion that it was better to play with them.



One first this week was Pearl's first bandaid. She had a little sore on her leg from her one of her many tumblings on top of toys. Little Pearl kept trying to pick at it, so Mimsy fished out a Hello Kitty bandaid. I believe we'll have another Hello Kitty fan in the household now.



We will leave you with a lovely water baby. Pearl enjoys her bath time like no other. I do believe she inherited my love for the water, she doesn't want to get out. I dream of the day we'll have a bathtub here again, then she'd have a whole "ocean" at her fingertips.

Festive Family

It's fun to watch the neighborhood come to life with christmas lights every year. Drab, ho-hum houses spring to life with their owner's take on the holiday. Clay did a beautiful job hanging twinklers here, blue lights have always been my favorite. Nana and Bumpa sent us a little tree, all decorated, and we have placed it in the front window with a penquin topper. Sorry for the blurry photo, we all know mommy's hands shake.



Of course Pearl is already trying to pull it down, but it's managed to stay upright so far. She is fascinated by the balls and ribbons, but the best part is....



...the box it arrived in! We put her blanket and a few toys in there and she was like a pig in poop! You can't quite tell from the photo, but she was dancing to the theme song from Family Guy. Pearl likes to boogie. I then futzed around with the camera settings and got this picture of miss thing. It's a strange exposure, but I like it.



We leave you with a poor quality photo of the Queen of the Links. Pearl donned her royal jewels and strutted her stuff, at least until she got all tangled up and begged Mimsy to rescue her. Poor monkey!