A Day of Ducks

Pearl, Mimsy and I had a girls afternoon out. I showed Mimsy where Clay's new restaurant is, we made a quick stop at Starbucks for a frappuccino, and then headed down to Lake Lily for some duck watching and to get a little exercise. It's high time this couch potato sprouted some limbs and got out. The lake looked lovely, the Christmas tree was floating next to the fountain.

I've been going to Lake Lily since I was a little kid. My grandmother used to live across the street and would take my brother, sister and I to the art festival they hold there every year. It's a great "duck lake", it seemed like they had a population explosion! There were quite a few babies, and we even found some eggs.

After we walked around the lake once Pearl was set free from her stroller. It was her first time coming face to face with a group of ducks. She loved them! It was amazing to see her being so fascinated with these feathered creatures. Pearl would slowly follow them around, a huge smile on her face, and started making kissing noises at them.

After the duck excitement wore off we went exploring. Pearl was finding all sorts of goodies on the ground. We found a snail shell, a tiny plastic pig, sticks and some mulch.

Our last stop at the lake was the garden club. Pearl loved the flowers, she touches them and lights up with a big smile.





We stopped by Minnehaha park on the way home to show Mimsy where Pearl usually goes. When we came home we were treated to a beautiful display of Christmas lights. Clay was a busy elf while we were gone, the house looks so festive! It was a wonderful day.

So much love to give

It's pretty wild to watch Pearl changing and growing. A couple of weeks ago she would pick up a stuffed animal, carry it around for a while, then toss it on the ground. Things are changing in the plushie department. Pearl now bestows heaps of love to her "babies". She will pick one up, hug it, makes her kissing noise with it up to her lips. Pearl also insists that others give the object of her affection lots of kisses too. Shoving the helpless stuffed thing into your face, she makes the kissing noise and will only take it back when you've placed smooches on it. Making two animals kiss is also a favorite past time.

Here is Pearl in all her glory, loving upon P-Earl.

Monsters, monsters everywhere!

Everyone run for cover, the Pearl Monster was unleashed today. Poor Pearl was grumpy and weepy, maybe some new chompers are trying to bust through. Who knew that a BPA-free plastic spoon could be a potential lethal weapon when in the hands of a 14 month old? Not me, that's for sure! The scooping untensil was flying, hitting various members of the family in the head, temper tantrums were had, just all around gloominess for most of the day.

Our little beast is asleep in her crib at the moment, we'll see how long it lasts. There are short bursts of protest that emit from her mouth, possibly when she wakes planning her next method of madness while dreaming. Boob was of little comfort, the poor overworked girls even withstood some torture.

As a result of it all I got frustrated, irritated and annoyed. The Mommy monster crawled out and reared it's ugly head! Shooting daggers out of your eyes at your offspring feels wrong, but they flew none the less. I had visions of Pearl strapped to a huge spinning disc, and I the blindfolded thrower of sharp objects.

Tears flowed from my eyes, my stomach felt sick, how could I even let such thoughts go through my head? Then Clay reminded me that all parents have bad days, all kids have bad days. The fact that I got mad and irritated doesn't make me a bad mother, it makes me a real mother. It's just sad that what makes me human can also make me feel like such a monster.

Beware of the flesh eating girl. She may be smiling,
but turn your back and she'll pounce!

Busy Bees

We've had quite the week here at the old Ponderosa. Pearl's Bumpa came for a visit, making the journey from cold Michigan! We spent Thanksgiving hanging out at the house eating, a day in Titusville where Bumpa swam at the beach and we went exploring, made a trip to Wekiwa Springs, and then to Pearl's favorite park.

It was great watching Pearl bond even more with her Bumpa. He taught her where her nose is, now she will point out yours if you ask her where it is. She gave him lots of kisses and smiles.

Pearl's firsts this week: kissing a boy, sipping from a straw, trip to the springs, alligator sighting, trip to ihop, coloring with crayons, hot fudge sundae tasting, seafood tasting.

Blogging about my monkey!

Miss Pearl is so special she now has two blogs being written about her! It's almost 4 in the morning, I'm feeling loopy and out of it, so I'll kick this thing off by posting one of my favorite recent pictures of Pearl.