Minnie Mouse

Little to our knowledge, daycare has taught A about Minnie Mouse, and she LOVES Minnie. I'm not sure about this, but it has had tremendous results with us and potty training. She will correct you if you say it is Mickey or some other mouse. :) A thoughtful grandparent got her Minnie Mouse underwear for her birthday. We were kind of at an impasse on getting her to use the toilet all the time. We finally showed her the Minnie Mouse underwear and she wanted the wear them. We told her that was fine, but they had to be dry at the end of the day because Minnie doesn't like getting wet. After our small switch we have had no accidents this week. Not even during naps or overnight. She likes showing Minnie off to everyone who will look, but that will pass. We do expect accidents, but haven't had any this past week yet.

Other exciting news around here:

We got a new washer from the rental company. The old one (I think it was older than me, or at least close to my age) had a seal or gasket go out Wednesday morning, as I was washing what looks like my last load of diapers. They came Thursday (after telling us to pour drain-o down the stand pipe) and took the old washer after determining it was unfixable. They were going to leave it, but as our rental agency is not used to dealing with adults, decided to take it so that we couldn't use it. Because you know, I love having water all over my basement floor. The new one is fairly new and has a few more bells and whistles. It isn't eco-friendly, but that's okay. I'm kind of concerned about how it is going to work with diapers, but that's something I will find out as I want to re-wash/strip all the diapers I have before I put them in storage or loan them to someone. We shall see, but if it is something I don't have to deal with for a while then that's fine with me. Our next big hurdle is the dryer. It too is going out, the heater or something major like that. It is probably about 15 or so years old, but it works.

Work is work for both Chris and me. We are starting to consider finding jobs not in the mountains, so hopefully that will go quickly and smoothly if we decide that is what needs to happen. A lot of people at the company I work for are unhappy with the new schedule (they just decided to do enough work for a second and third shift of workers, but don't have enough people to cover that much time so those of us currently there are supposed to make it up and not get paid any extra) so we will see how long that lasts. Most of us at work are betting on how long before one of the critical machines malfunctions. It is a schedule that I won't be able to keep up for long, and don't really want to. I went to school and got a degree so that I don't have to work for less than minimum wage, yet the hours they are asking for what they pay us, make it a close call. The management of the place is annoyed with me because I have to pick A up from daycare by five, therefore leaving each day at 430. The fact that I've already worked an eight hour day and probably through lunch (so nine hours really) is just expected. Oh, and we are going to mandatory Saturdays, where we have to ask and take PTO for Saturdays. These are a couple of the new developments at my office that make me want another job.

The university is starting have labs until 9 during the week which means that in the fall Chris and I will get to see each other on weekends if he gets the later shift. We will have to see how it all plays out, but him not seeing A isn't going to work -- for him or A. As it stands she tolerates being home without him, but not much more than an hour. He wouldn't even be able to come home for "lunch" since he will be the only one there. Once again the university has the work for more than 2 people, but doesn't want to hire another person or two to get it all done. However, we both have jobs which are stable for now, and we will keep eyes and ears open for other opportunities.

A is also talking up a storm, and most of the time you can understand her fairly well. She talks and talks and talks. It is a nice change from the crying she's done for the past two years as a way of communicating. Some of the teachers and kids at daycare have horrible grammar and her favorite phrase right now is, "Why cause?" We told her that is something she asks NJ (why cuz?) but if she wants an explanation for something then she asks, "how come?" We're getting there and she often has her own ideas about how things should work. We do get some tantrums, but the fact that she's two (and normally tired) explains a little. We are prone to let her flop on the floor or go sit in her room until she's ready to behave. We've only had to leave one store so far, so that's a good ratio we think.

Anyway, I need to go get some breakfast together. I had a minute at a computer and realized I didn't get the post up last weekend that I wanted to, so I better do it now. Hope all is well with you.