work day

This Presidents' Day turned into "bring your kid to work" day. With daycare closed, the babysitter already booked, and both classes and work still on, we had to get a little creative with Squirt. In other instances like this, I just took paid leave and stayed home with her, but this time my office had a mandatory, all-hands training that I HAD to be at, which was held at a time when dad-o had a class he HAD to be at... Most of the day, he actually did stay home with her, but there were several hours in the afternoon where I was just out of luck. With no other reasonable options at such short notice, I decided to just suck it up and bring her with me. I was prepared for a nightmare, but she was actually quite pleasant and, indeed, brought out a few smiles during an otherwise painfully dull afternoon stuck in the conference room. She stole chocolate from the colleague sitting next to us during the ethics section of the training (shovelling what she could into her mouth and the rest into her pockets), kicked a company-branded stress ball back and forth with my boss during the safety section (sometimes throwing it at the other boss further down the aisle), and merrily scribbled on every single page in momma's notebook with a Sharpie during the workplace violence section (remind me later to smack the guy that gave it to her). Despite being quite the chatterbox these days, she barely uttered a peep the entire afternoon (well, one peep... she shoulted "no!" when the commentator in the training video asked "What will you do if confronted by an active shooter in the workplace?"). *whew* Because she was such a peachy little co-worker, she got rewarded with a fun trip to the park on the way home.

Fueling up for her big work day at a lunch date with Momma.

Chattering away as she ambled through the park.

"Hi, mom!"

Slide!!!

Time to unwind.

 

two in two

In just two short months, Squirt will turn two! I can't believe it's almost here! While she's been in the throes of toddlerhood for months  now, and has definitely started rehearsals for the "terrible twos," she's still my baby girl, she's still only one... for two more months. Then there's no denying it. She'll officially be a toddler, a little kid, one more big step on her journey to adulthoodeyness. I find myself wondering where the time went, but the answer is always right in front of me: it went into her. She's grown, learned, developed so much. Every day for her seems to be a great adventure where she discovers more of the wonders around her. I've said it before and I'll say it again, but it truly is amazing to be a part of her life and to watch her bloom. These next couple months are going to be quite the roller coaster as we deal with changes at home, try to grow together as a family, and approach the BIG day. The only surety right now is that she will be there, she will be awesome, and she will continue conquering the world, one teensy-weensy step at a time.

On a mid-winter trip to the Botanical Gardens.

Sharing some chai at the gardens.

Kicking the Enemy.

Shopping with momma.

That's how we roll.

LOVES bath time.

Getting ready to open her own art gallery.

 

Nap time in her big girl bed.

Rocking rocking rocking.

Gleefully swinging with Honey Joe.

Wondering what the next two months have in store for the family that... well, that is.