Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Halloween

For Elise's first Halloween she dressed up as a little duckie! Here she is with the little Elise sized pumpkin we picked out.

I don't understand what's going on but this orange thing is kinda cool.

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Since she's one of those kids that prefers to stand over all else we took the opportunity to get some shots of her on her feet.

Just stand here a look cute? Eh, give me a minute.

Here ya go, how's this for cute?

We went over to the Irvington Halloween Festival and luckily it was a nice day for it. A little on the breezy side but it was great to get out and see all the homemade wares at the Indie Handicraft Exchange, the people and dogs in their costumes, get a taste of the ever awesome Papa Roux, and support NRG.

quackquackquack

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At the end of the day they have a costume parade where essentially everyone in a costume can walk in the parade. We stood on the side of the road waving and watching for a little bit before Elise was starting to yawn. Luckily the parade was headed in the direction of the car so we just hopped right in and took a stroll. All the people waving at us on the side had Elise's little hands going back and forth between waving and clapping. SO many cute little kids there and some pretty creative adults too (a guy with 2 little kids dressed as bees and him as a bee keeper, lol).

It was nice to have a mellow, fun holiday and we look forward to next year when she can actually walk in the parade!

Her expression is pretty priceless.

Bouting Baby

Elise got to go to her 10th bout last weekend! Naptown Roller Girls Tornado Sirens took on Maine Roller Derby's Port Authorities and we squeaked out another victory by 4 points. It was the first bout of Naptown's 5th home season and we were excited to be skating back on our home turf after a grueling off season tournament schedule.

I'm ready for the bout!

Photo by Marc Lebryk

We were a little worried about how Elise would handle the crowd and the noise since she's more 'aware' of these things as she gets older. The Warning Belles had a bout in Dayton a couple weeks ago (we won 210-39) but it was in a small roller rink on a Sunday afternoon so there wasn't a chance to see how she'd handle the 2000+ fans we get at home. Mike went to the pre-bout hangout, a ritual for the most die hard derby fans, while Elise took her second nap of the day. I think I was more nervous trying to remember everything I needed to bring for her than I am when I coach! Fully stocked diaper bag-check. Purse-check. Jackets-check. Adorable little girl-check.

Those cheeks, seriously.

Photo by Tom Klubens

We had a minor bout of stranger anxiety when we got there. Sad face galore but once we were there for a few minutes she was fine. We took our seats by the bench ready to cheer our girls on as the crowd filed in. These awesome headphones are by Peltor and I have a feeling a lot more derby kids will be sporting them soon since I heard several people had to leave when the noise got to be too much. As an added bonus it's way better for their ears.

Standing on Hodges' massage table ready for a rub down.

Photo by Michael Guio

The girls looked great, the bout was intense. Maine only had a roster of 10 girls but it didn't show. They were eating away any lead we managed to get, sometimes in a single jam. Elise, a true derby baby, knows how to call the jam off by hitting her hips with her hands and it was pretty funny to watch her doing this. Sure she has no concept of actual game play yet but it was still pretty dang cute when she'd do it hearing me yelling for our jammer to call it off.

Happy baby.

Photo by Tom Klubens

Oh this bout is so close!!

Photo by Tom Klubens

The last jam was so crazy, Maine scored 19 points which would've tied it had Amooze Booche not come flying out of the penalty box to squeak out 4 points for us. Even after the final whistle the refs wanted to be extremely sure of the final score before declaring a winner. It was intense!!

Nice try MRD! (no seriously, we love you girls)

Photo by Tom Klubens

Elise was such a trooper through the whole thing. She didn't cry or get upset and was generally interested in what was going on. I credit the sights and the sounds for how she managed to stay awake for almost 7 hours straight. She was asleep before I even pulled out of the fairgrounds but overall I'd say her 10th bout was just as successful as the last 9. Fingers crossed she behaves for the next one because Mommy is going to be coaching so Daddy will be wrangling her solo!

Next home bout is a double header Naptown vs the Chicago Outfit on December 4th. You won't want to miss it! Go to http://naptownrollergirls.com/ for more details.

How to Wake a Baby

Now everyone knows that you never, ever, ever wake a baby on purpose. Sure there are times where you are left with no choice like an appointment scheduled right in the middle of naptime but usually you just let that little one sleep until she wakes herself up. There are, however, many ways that you can wake up a baby just by doing something in particular. Babies are born with an innate sense where they can just tell that you want them to STAY ASLEEP at that particular moment and there is no way they can comply. They will wake up, even if they've only been asleep for half the time of there normal nap.

1. Sneeze-this particular loud noise is an instant baby waker

2. Take a nap-if you even think about taking a nap it's usually enough

3. Paint your nails-because it's easy to change a diaper without messing them up right?

4.Workout-as soon as you get those clothes on it sends an alert to baby's brain that you are bored and need something to do

5. Get within 10 ft of a hot meal-the guy in A Christmas Story got it right

6. Go to the bathroom- at least for this one, baby can wait

7. Take an important phone call- the chit chat ones she'll usually sleep through

8. Vacuum- duh, you say, but when she's super little she'll sleep right through it then one day it'll wake her up!

9. Shower- usually as soon as you put the shampoo in your hand that little radar goes off

10. Have adult time- nuff said

11. Mop- that hot bucket of sudsy water is just going to have to sit there for awhile

12. Transfer her from carseat to crib- no way is she going to stay asleep!

Sure, all those things are important in some way or another (ok, painting the nails not so much) and yes it can be annoying for those first few moments when I have to stop what I'm doing and go into the nursery. But as soon as I see that little face smiling up at me and she waves those chubby arms and legs in excitement all is forgiven. Come to mama.

Videos

I usually upload videos from my phone to this site:
http://www.yfrog.com/froggy.php?username=dianebeatin

They're pretty short for the most part but I know watching is sometimes better than reading or looking at pictures! I'll be back for a longer post this weekend but wanted to share that link now. Enjoy the giggles, sounds, kicks and smiles!

Talons

A little known fact, when Elise was born her thumbnails were SUPER long. The rest of her fingernails were about normal for a baby I guess but those thumbs were sporting some serious talons(further proof that she's actually part velociraptor). To this day they still seem to grow twice as fast as the rest of her nails to where I find myself having to trim them up about twice a week. I'm not sure what it is about baby nails but they're a sharp as kitten teeth when she grabs a handful of skin. Ouch!!

Cutting her fingernails has become a bit like surgery. That is surgery where the patient is awake and very interested in anything you have in your hands these days. The lucky part is that I get to hold one of her hands so at least that cuts down the odds to 50/50 of losing control of the clippers. Today I ran into a new challenge. Toe nails.

You're going to do what to my toes? Gotta get 'em from me first!

You see, I've not really had to trim her toenails too much since she's been born. Just like adults, baby's toenails seem to grow slower than fingernails. Up till now her toenails have had this magic way of just breaking off when they get long enough to even think about trimming. That is until today. I was getting her out of her pajamas and noticed that the nail on her big toe was getting pretty long, not talon like yet, but definitely on the way. No problem right? I've trimmed her nails plenty! Yes, but when it comes to toes she now has TWO hands to grab at the clippers, and her feet, and my hands, and just wiggle in general. I think I sweat more cutting that one toenail than I did at The Lair last night during practice. Okay, maybe not that much but it was intense.

After many minutes of shaking hands, fending off small fingers, and whispered prayers I wouldn't cut her toe I managed to de-claw that foot, for now...

I'm a champ at sitting up now!!

Figuring out new toys is serious business.

Oh WOW! The lights! The sounds! The drool!