Summer treat

The appetite of a nursing mom is a powerful force. It leads her to do strange and daring things. Things like letting her toddler eat a McDonald's ice cream cone in the car because Mama is so hungry she needs food NOW and she realizes she can't eat ice cream without buying some for the munchkin. Yeah, I know, I was risking total destruction of my vehicle, but it is ten years old, and besides, I like to live on the edge. This risky behavior is sort of fun; I think next week I'll take Chickie bungee jumping.

It was a risk that paid off. A lot of ice cream ended up on Chickie's face, but only one large drop fell on her car seat. I think she was happy with the situation, too....


I did learn something important. McDonald's puts these little paper sleeves on the bottom half of their ice cream cones. Well, I guess the sleeve should be removed before handing the ice cream cone to the child. When I did remove it upon our arrival home, it looked like this (the upper edge lining up perfectly with the bite marks in the cone):


So let me get this straight, sweet Chickie. You are perfectly okay with eating paper, sand, lip balm, and baby shampoo, but mashed potatoes and green beans are GROSS. I suppose in some alternate universe called "Toddlerlogic" that makes perfect sense.

Me, this morning

Another blogger (Sweetney) issued a challenge today to take an immediate picture of yourself without any extra preparation or retouching, and post it. (I heard about this on Cheaper by the half dozen which is a totally hilarious blog that is well worth checking out.)

So...thankfully I saw this after I'd showered and gotten ready. Here's me, this morning, still looking suitably sleepy:


I love the interesting angles of the ceiling, cabinets, etc. behind me!

If you decide to participate, be sure to post the link to your pic in the Comments section. (This is super easy if you have a webcam--otherwise I never would have gotten around to it.)

We got a pool!

Before you get too excited and invite yourself over for a pool party, here are some pictures:

Until Chickie swam in a friend’s kiddie pool last week (and LOVED it), I was under the impression that these tiny little pools just aren’t fun. Of course, now that I’ve analyzed that opinion, I realize why I held it—the last summer I used a kiddie pool, at whatever age that was, I’d outgrown it, and it was boring. But every summer before that, it was a blast!

What a great way to spend part of a summer day—Mama on the back porch reading a book with Chickie a few feet away, sliding, straining water through a colander, pouring water out of a bowl, getting out of the pool to play with the dog…just being a kid. Pretty perfect for both of us.