Move over Escargot. . .

Our busy girl Talia seems anxious to explore any and everything. One can often hear her squealing with glee as she cruises towards any open bathroom door. Which brings us to curious taste tester number one of this past week: the toilet scrubber thingy. You know that bristly cleaning tool to scrub off all the "stuff" you don't want in the throne? I happened to run down stairs for what felt like was a few minutes in order to throw dinner together and heard a crying Talia upstairs. It didn't sound serious so I ignored it as I was almost finished. Not long after, the crying stopped. I figured it was Mia playing with her to help her calm down. To my horror, she wasn't in the toy room with the kids, but in my bathroom. What is nice about our bathroom is that the toilet is actually in its own enclosed room. What is not nice, is that the door to that particular room is left open to help Tiago take care of business on time. Although I did not personally witness it, all evidence pointed to at least a few moments of inspection. As much as I tried to convince myself else wise, I have seen her "investigation" processes on other items. What is that process? Touch with finger tips, grab with hand, shove the object into the mouth and repeat. Seeing as how the brush was found several feet out of the bathroom, she must have crawled with the brush into the main part of the bathroom. This process is usually done with the object in her mouth. I even sniffed her for possible smell matches. Sometimes its better not to know.

Taste tester number two: after library story time, there is a craft. I allowed Talia to crawl around while I helped Tiago make his craft. When I picked her up to leave, I noticed she was gnawing on something. I proceeded to squish her cheeks thinking I would find a discarded Cheerio. Instead I pulled out a decapitated lady bug.

Taste tester number three: At this point, you might be wondering why I let her crawl at all. After my Zumba class Saturday night, I found Talia chomping away on some other kids Binky. Who knows how she managed get it. More then that, it confused me since she gave up on the binky idea by her self several months ago.

Aside from the various things I have seen Talia eats with her two half grown teeth

(and many more I haven't witnessed), she keep s growing and exploring.

She goes up and down our stairs.
She loves to stand and cruise along the furniture. She is figuring out how to say hello and goodbye. She loves music and dances by bouncing up and down. We love having her in our family.

So long Christmas

Information and communication is vital for a successful life. When one moves into a new area, they rely on various sources to function in that new community. It is important to know where the nearest stores and banks and post offices are located. It is essential to know when your trash will be picked up. And, for those states who love mother earth, the recycling pick up dates as well. Sometimes one forgets to ask the all important questions like "What do we do with our dead Christmas tree?" I knew well enough that I couldn't sneak the 8-9ft (as labeled at the lot) kindling into the trash nor did I want to since it could be mulched. I had to turn to the source of all wisdom: GOOGLE. (they should pay me for that) The search was murky, but I finally found a somewhat clear answer. Unfortunately, I read it wrong and missed our date to put our bonfire waiting to happen out on the curb. It sat for weeks waiting to move on. I finally dragged it to the Civic and pulled out a small saw. The kids enjoyed watching mom whittle away at the tree. Tip for the next person needing to fit an over sized tree into a compact car's trunk, wear gloves. Those dry needles are well like needles.
Mia wanted to give it a go. Yes I realize that the helmet isn't really going to prevent her from cutting her leg off. . .she just got off her bike.

I drove it to the Bitters Road Recycling Station which had an eerie stillness like it was set up to shoot a suspense movie. Staffed with random but silent workers and a small group of people anxious to load their trucks with free Christmas tree mulch, I was unsure of what I needed to do. No one really knew anything and didn't really care to communicate that lack of knowledge. Oh, well. I dropped the tree off in some clippings heap and the kids loved seeing the big machinery. I was the smallest vehicle there, but I completed my own Honey Do List item in time to go to the gym and clean the house. Here is where one could do the snap and arm wave of "You Go Girl!" glory.

BumbleRide The ride of your life

The walk to Mia's school is a fantastic way to get a little meaningful exercise in the morning. Plus it allows us to spend some time together outdoors. We have been using this run down DuoGlider double stroller and it makes the whole process very tedious. Tiago has to go on front, but feels uncomfortable sitting so upright and Talia inevitably sloshes around in the back. I have been looking for a good alternative, but hesitated. I love the movability of the stroller we have but it stinks at doubling as a jogging stroller. A jogging stroller is limited by it's lame and rigid front wheel. Then I found the BumbleRide which claims to be the ride of your life.Aside from the fantastic color scheme, the various ergonomic adaptations make this stroller amazing. I love that the seats can be adjusted independently of the other. I love the fact that the stroller can be used as a jogger with ease of use. Having the safety feature of a five point adjustable safety harness and infant headrest & shoulder pads makes the idea of using it as a jogging stroller that much more possible. We have a DuoGlider and have not been very pleased with the overall feel or storage capacity (and look). This stroller seems to be a perfect fit for our family. To make things even better, they are having a giveaway from the site I Never Grew Up. Someone has to win and hopefully it's me. Check it out.