Knee Slapper

The Peanut has become a wild child lately with a temper to match.

You can tell she's mad at you when she furrows her brow, raises her hand and then slaps her leg as hard as she can in protest. She's got my temper for sure. Poor girl. It's going to be her downfall in life for sure.

She has also taken to bending down and slapping her knees/shins to music. This music can be on the radio, tv, from Jason or I singing. She doesn't care. She gets a big smile on her face and proceeds to slap out the beat the best she can on her legs. Maybe she'll be a music major?

I have to say 'get down please' about a half a million times a day. And that is in no way an exaggeration. She climbs on the coffee table, dining chairs, her crib, the toy box, the bookcase, the couch, Jason's computer tower, and the tv stand. It's getting a little dangerous to be in another room.

We are still in a power struggle over the contents of the lower cabinets of the kitchen. She thinks everything in there is a toy for her including my glassware. I'd prefer to not have footprints in my cooking dishes.

Life in Florida has pretty well settled down. We're in a pretty good routine. We spend Monday through Friday at home and then spend 90% of the weekends with the Trudells. I love having sleepovers as adults. It's just as fun as I remember it being as a kid but this time it's co-ed.

We had the plague hit our house last week. Well, not the plague. But close to it. It started last weekend when we had to cut our sleepover short because the Miss was really sick. We took her to urgent care and were told it was a double ear infection and were given a prescription. The next day she was broken out head to toe in a rash so we took her back and then were told it wasn't ear infections but chicken pox. Then I was hit with a migraine to end all migraines and then a fever and chills. As it turns out, it was actually Hand Foot and Mouth disease. Not the worst thing but certainly no fun at all. We've survived and now all of our spots are healing and we're back to our normal selves. Jason was the only one to escape it's wrath. Lucky duck.

smooches

It's funny to think about all the things I was weirded out by before becoming a mom. One of the biggest was when children would kiss their parents on the mouth. It just seemed weird to me because in my mind a kiss on the mouth is an intimate moment to be shared with your significant other.

Noella has been big on affection lately and so that includes lots of smooches. Her favorite places include but are not limited to: My cheeks, mouth, hair, legs and shoulders.

Most of the time if she's walking around I can lean over and say Noella, can I have a smooch and with a big grin she toddles on over and happily obliges with a big, wet, open mouthed kiss smack dab on my mouth complete with a little lick at the end. It melts my heart because she's as happy to give me lovin' as I am to recieve it.

As time as gone on I've accepted that the whole mouth on mouth thing is just how it's done when you're a wee one and that it probably stems from the fact that there are days that I ask demand for more than just a few pecks from the Mister right in front of her. (how embarassing is it going to be for her in 7 years!?)

I adore that little one and the joy she brings to my heart seems to never ever end.

And so I leave you with your very own Noella kiss and hope you find something to melt your hear today too.