Foot-Loose and Toddler-Free

It's been a quiet weekend at Casa de Stopster. No crying, no yelling, no chasing the cats, only occasional whining. It was almost like the pre-kid days, before diapers and sippy-cups, before potty training and scheduled naps, before tantrums and time-outs. Why? Because, this weekend, there was no kid.

Friday morning, we packed Maddie off to Larry and Nancy (a.k.a., Nana and Pa), and from then, until about 6 p.m. this evening, we were officially off-duty. (Well, as off-duty as you ever get when you're a parent--meaning there was lots of texting and at least two Skype conversations.) This isn't the first time we've done this, but it's the first time where we've had hours upon hours of leisure time at our disposal.

So, Friday evening we took a trip to Whole Foods for some really good ingredients, and then Jon made dinner while I acted as prep chef (read, I chopped brussel sprouts and measured ingredients into dishes, all ready to go when he needed them). Chef Stoppel created individual smoked-blue cheese souffles paired with fresh, pan-seared brussel sprouts in a honey reduction. (The brussel sprouts were from a recipe that Eric Ripert tweeted last week.)

While the souffles were baking, we enjoyed an assortment of olives and peppers from the Whole Foods olive bar. Then we repaired to our rarely used dining room for the main course. These were the first souffles Jon has ever attempted, and I must say, the man is a force to be reckoned with the in the kitchen. They were amazing. The brussel sprouts were also really good, and we're hoping to try them with Maddie sometime soon. We finished up with cannolis and a chocolate parfait (also from Whole Foods), and then took our wine into the living room to start watching Season 4 of 30 Rock. I will admit that that part may not fit in with the rest of the evening, but whatever. Doing what we want!, the theme for the weekend.



Look! The souffles rose and everything.


Jon did make me remove my shoes and creep in and out of the kitchen on tip-toe while they were baking.

Saturday morning, Jon had to work, but I, being more fortunate, slept in. Yes, I know! I actually managed to sleep in! Sorry, if you don't know, since having a kid, I am unable to sleep in. It doesn't matter if she's there or not, or even if Jon offers to go get her. I can't sleep in. It took some effort, but in the end, the 45 minutes I took talking myself back to sleep were well worth it. Saturday, we lounged around the house, took a nap, and then headed over to Stone Pillar Winery to meet our friends the Meyers for some wine on the patio. After that, we hit up Johnny's for some burgers and musical trivia bingo.

Sunday, Jon slept in while I read in bed. This was followed by coffee and more lounging. In fact, truth be told, I didn't change out of my robe and shower until about 4:40 this afternoon. Yes, feel free to be jealous...or grossed out, whichever appeals to you more.

All in all, it was nice to be able to just "be" together for a while, without worrying about scheduling and entertaining the Madster. It reminded us of why we got together in the first place. However, both of us were 100% ready for Miss Thing to come home this evening. We missed her bunches, and judging by the fact that she threw herself on the sidewalk in excitement at our arrival, I'm assuming she missed us, too.

So, thanks, Larry and Nancy for giving us a weekend off! I hope you're resting up from all the trips to the park and the ice cream shop.

Family Photos

Hello, my lovely readers!

Recently (like a week and a half ago), Jon, Maddie, and I ventured out to Prairie Center and met the lovely and talented Sarah Dickerson for a little family photo session. First of all, seriously, if you haven't been to Prairie Center and you live in the area, you should totally check it out. It's a little "rugged" as Sarah described it, but if you wear good walking shoes, it's gorgeous. Lots of wildflowers, ponds, trees, etc. (Um, also giganto bull-snakes, if you get off the path to try to take pictures by some trees, so I don't recommend that...)

Secondly, Sarah was great. She trekked all over the place with us, was patient with Maddie, and most importantly, she got some great shots. I'm only going to post our favorite shot here because sometimes uploading photos onto this thing is a pain, but you should definitely check out more images from our session on her blog. (We've also placed her blog in our list to the right, so feel free to check out more of her work, if you have time.) We're buying a disc of all the pictures from this session, so we'll put them all up somewhere online when we have that, so you can browse if you're so inclined. (And if you're not, I totally get that. I know we're stunning, but even that amount of pretty gets old after the first 20 pictures or so.)

Anyway, all in all, Sarah was awesome, the light was awesome, and thank goodness it wasn't nearly as hot as it could have been. Oh, and it should be noted, Maddie will do about anything for raisins. I think we went through about 3/4 of a bag...

Remember the Cuteness, Part III

So, it's been a bit since Remember the Cuteness, Parts I and II, but Miss Maddie has been changing so much and so quickly lately, that I felt it was time to capture some of her current quirks and idiosyncrasies for posterity. Here goes:

1. A-Okay: Lately, the Madster's response to everything you ask her is "O-kay!" It's really that enthusiastic, too. Want to go upstairs? O-kay! We need to go change your diaper. O-kay! It's time to brush your teeth and get your eye drops. O-kay! (No seriously, that just happened tonight.) Now, if only she actually were okay with half the things she so easily acquiesces to, well, life would be a lot easier, let's just leave it at that.

2. Baby-stalking: There's no way to sugar-coat this one--the girl is obsessed with babies. She loves them. She loves to talk about them. She loves to point at them and squeal. She loves to touch them, and kiss them, and kiss them, and kiss them, and kiss them, and kiss them, and sorry, got stuck in a bit of a loop there. Most of the time, it's adorable, but sometimes, it can be a bit of a nuisance. For instance, there were three or four families in our Kindermusik class that had new infants, and the parents just brought them to class with them. Maddie was so interested in all the babies, that the poor moms and dads had to leave their newborns in their car seats behind a little barrier in the class room, just to keep her from running over and touching them every five seconds. (Sidebar: The "You'll really have to get her one of those comments" got a little annoying by the end of the semester. While we probably will "get her one of those" at some point, I have no intention of creating another human being simply because my almost-two-year-old wants one. On the other hand, this strand of logic would explain a lot of the crazy and ridiculous choices some people make. It's obvious; they were listening to two-year-olds.)

3. Swimfan: Our little Monkey-face loves her some chlorinated water (See Meltdown). As soon as the first warm day in June rolled around, we took her to one of the pools in our sub-division, and while she had to be coaxed into the water the first time, once in, it was love at first splash. She loves the kiddie pool that she can get in and out of by herself, she loves the big pool with its steps, and she really loves going back and forth between them, making whichever adult is the current "designated parent" chase after her, in and out, in and out. She alternates between calling pools "poooo" and "a baf wif kids," this last usually being shouted at Jon from across the pool: "Daddy, I takin' a baf! Daddy I takin' a baf wif kids!" The only downside to this aquatic fixation is her lack of understanding when it comes to timing and the pool (Well, that and the fact that our sunscreen bill is through the roof). She does not understand, for example, that one cannot simply just go to the pool first thing in the morning (especially when one's parents have to go to work), in the rain, right before bed, or on the way home from daycare (And lucky us, we pass three of the damn things going to and from this last one. Ugh.). Still, on hot summer days, it's a good way to kill an hour or so.

4. Kiss, Kiss, Hug, Hug: Finally, the baby who couldn't be bothered to cuddle with you, who didn't need to be held, has turned into a little girl who loves to give hugs and kisses. Yay! Yay! (Sorry, that was me doing a song and dance in my head. I'm pretty pumped about this.) She asks for kisses; she bestows unsolicited kisses; she gives "big hugs" in which she wraps her chunky, little arms as far around you as they can go and says "Ahmmmm." And last but most definitely, certainly, without a doubt not least, sometimes, sometimes, she will say, all on her own, "I wuv ooo, Mommy. I wuv ooo, Daddy." It's usually followed by a hug or a kiss on the leg (It's all she can reach if we're standing). Heart.melting.now.for.real. She did offer all the people in Home Depot a kiss the other day, after bestowing one on both Jon and myself, but we're trying not to read too much into that...

And now, since I know you're only reading this to placate me, here's the picture you popped over to our blog for anyway:

Maddie, enjoying a cookie while hanging out with Nana and Pa in Abilene, KS.

M Is for Meltdown

So, to start with, Maddie has developed a deep, profound, and unshakable love for the pool. She alternately calls it a "poooo" or a "baf wif kids", but it's the same. She lurvs the pool, and she will smite anyone who stands between her and her watery soul mate, in so far as toddlers are capable of smiting.


To fuel her obsession, we drive by not one, not two, but three separate pools on the way to and from daycare, and each time we pass one, a small, squeaky voice in the backseat pipes up, "I go poooo. I go baf wif kids! I go poooo a liddle bit. I go pooo latuw." Every day it's the same thing, and every day we say maybe. Maybe later, maybe after dinner, maybe tomorrow. It's always maybe because while we're still newbie-parents, we're not completely amateurs. We know that a promise to a toddler is like a trained tiger--it seems harmless, but you turn your back on it, and it'll bite you in the ass. Seriously...


Anyway, this evening, we actually did go to the pool, no maybes. We went to the pool, and she played in the kiddie pool, and she jumped off the steps, and she tried to touch other kids toys while splashing them. And, when it was time to leave, even though she had been given several "after this we're going, in two minutes we're going, it's time to go now" warnings, she pitched a nutty.


In her defense, it was a Grade A nutty, complete with real tears, gut-wrenching screaming, and a red scrunchy face. When we got in the car, it got worse. When we tried to get her into her bath, it got even worse, and when she refused to lie down to have her hair washed and we were forced to pour water over her head, it reached biblical flood proportions. After that, she was pretty much inconsolable unless Jon was pretending to cry, too, at which point, she laughed in a crying, hiccuping sort of way until lapsing into tears again. She cried through her diaper change, she cried through her lotion application, and she cried while we forced her into her pajamas. Oh, and she also pee'd on the floor twice, but that's not really related, just slightly gross.

Finally, we read The Sleepy Little Alphabet twice, and then we were suckered into reading Goodnight Moon once as well. After that, she was fine. She gave hugs and kisses, she repeated prompted "I love you"s, and she went to sleep with two stuffed animals over her face, leaving her parents to contemplate many more nights of the same.

Placeholder: The Home Improvement Edition

So, as promised, here is the long list of lame excuses as to why, up until two days ago, there had been a month's-plus silence on the blog. First, I've been super-duper, very, especially, completely, overwhelmingly busy with work--more than usually so, in case you didn't catch my meaning there. See, twice a year, all six journals for which I manage the edit, publish within a month and a half time span. It's a bit insane for while, and so everything else slides a bit. It's all I can do it keep up with work, the kid, and the house. Plus, in light of said craziness at work, there hasn't been too much of note going on at home. I know you all miss my rambling (and the pictures, yes, the pictures), but trust me; you missed nothing.

What have we been doing? Well, Jon and I (okay, mostly Jon) have started in full-tilt on the upstairs bathroom again. His dad is available to help with tiling tomorrow, so we needed to have the bathroom "tile-ready" before Nana and Pa (or NanaPa as Maddie used to refer to them) arrive. Therefore, Jon cut and is currently laying down the last of the backerboard for the shower, the floor, and the odd 80s-style step in front of our tub. Wednesday and Thursday night were spent painting, which is one of the few remodeling projects I can help with. Dear readers, I am so sore! The bathroom is the only room in the house with vaulted ceilings, so painting it involved screwing a roller onto a broom handle and seeing how high I can make it go. Also, I'm not tall. (Chris Stoppel, I want you to note that I just said I wasn't tall. I am not short. Average height! Anyway...) Tonight we went and bought about three tons of tile, so by tomorrow, I'm hoping the floor and shower wall will be taking shape.

On the Maddie front, she's still talking up a storm. Yesterday, she said what I think has got to be her longest complete sentence to date: I saw a man walking a doggy. Not the most scintillating material, I'll grant you, but still, long. Sadly, she's continuing her streak of getting up ridiculously early. It seems like once a week, she sleeps in until about 7:30, and the rest of the week, we're lucky if she's still in bed at 6 a.m. Luckily, she's cute, or we might have to sell her. (What? Maybe there are some people who'd like an adorable, curly-headed alarm clock. People who like to get up really early all the time.)

All right, lovelies, I'm going to wrap this up and enjoy what's left of my evening off, but I promise some pictures or videos or something soon. Have a good weekend! --A

Tete-a-Toddler: Conversations with a Budding Linguist

Time: Weekday evening

Place: Kitchen

Maddie: Dadeeee, whew ah ooo?

Jon (who is standing right next to Maddie): Maddie, where do you think Daddy is? Where is Daddy?

Maddie (grinning): Daddy ah wuk! (giggles)


Time: Weekday evening

Place: Kitchen

Setting: I'm cooking, and Maddie is watching me and "helping." I've given her a set of measuring spoons and an empty measuring cup.

Me: Maddie, are you cooking with Mommy? Are you cooking?

Maddie (fiercely stirring an invisible substance of some sort): Yeah!

Me: What are you cooking?

Maddie: Salt.


Time: Weekday morning

Place: Maddie's bedroom

Me: Maddie, let's get you dressed so you can go to daycare. Do you want to go see Miss Laura?

Maddie: Yeah!

Me: Who else will you see at daycare?

Maddie: a Miss Wawa, a Yandon, a Spehcer, a Caityen

Me: Yep, you'll see all your friends at daycare.

Maddie: a Pa?

Me: No, Pa won't be at daycare.

Maddie: a Nana??

Me: No, Nana won't be at daycare either.

Maddie: a Unca Chiss???

Me: What? No. Maddie, none of those people have ever been to your daycare!


Time: Sunday morning

Place: Church

Setting: At the end of our church service, the congregation stands around the outer edges of the sanctuary, holds hands, and sings a closing song. Last Sunday, my parent were visiting, so they attended the service with us. I was holding Maddie, and my dad was standing next to us. My dad tried to hold Maddie's hand.

Maddie: Nooo! (Wrinkles up her forehead, nose, and mouth, and pulls her hand away.)

Grandpa: All right. I won't touch you (puts his hand on my shoulder).

Maddie (pushing his hand away somewhat violently): Noooo! No a toucha Mommy!


Time: Weekday evening

Place: Neighborhood playground

Jon: All right, Maddie, one more time down the slide, and then we need to finish our walk and go home.

(Maddie goes down the slide.)

Me: Okay, time to go. Let's go get in your stroller.

Maddie: Nooo. A mo' sa-yide. A mo' sa-yide!

Me: No, it's time to go.

Jon: Say bye-bye, slide. Say bye-bye.

Maddie: Bye-bye, sa-yide. See ta-ma-oh.

*My apologies for the length between this post and the last. I'll be posting again in the next couple of days with some lame excuses for the delay, pictures, and general updates. I appreciate your patience!

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Not having anything particularly topical to write about, I decided to do another quick update on the goings-on at Casa de Stopster. We haven't really been up to a whole lot--finishing taxes (ugh! we are definitely withholding more up front this year), getting the yard back in shape, and trying to spend as much time out in the nice weather before the boiling Kansas summer comes home to roost.

Shortly after we visited the Deanna Rose Farmstead--okay, like the day after--we visited Cedar Cove Feline Conservatory in Louisburg, KS with our favorite 'also-parents', the Jantzer-Wards and their totally-squeezable son, JJ. This refuge houses 7 tigers, 3 cougars, 3 bobcats, a leopard, an adorable lion cub, and a couple of coatis (co-ah-tee), which may be Maddie's new favorite animal, or at least word to say. Cedar Cove, from what I could tell, mostly takes in animals that have already been captive in some capacity and need somewhere else to be. For instance, the leopard was originally in a private residence (yes, it's insane; I know), but when they decided to have a baby, they thought the combination of baby and leopard might not be a good idea (so, maybe not completely insane), and the shelter took him in.

After we gave the kiddos some tiger-time, we stopped by the other attraction in Louisburg, Somerset Winery, for some adult fun. They have a huuuuge open lawn space, so after those-who-are-of-age selected a bottle share, we sipped wine in the sun while JJ and Maddie got good and dirty running around in the grass, playing with rocks on the gravel path, and slogging through the mud near a small bridge. (The bridge seemed to allow one to cross a small drainage ditch, and yes, it was about as pointless as it sounds, but being almost perfectly toddler-size, they thought it was great.

Other than that, we've been sticking pretty close to home. Maddie's still going to Kindermusik every Tuesday, and she seems to enjoy herself. Her favorite part may be the stamps she receives at the end of class, but she also gets pretty excited about the dancing and story time. Maddie's the youngest kid in the class, so usually, when stamp time comes, the older kids kind of push her out of the way, but a couple of weeks ago, she ran right up to the front and pulled up her shirt to Miss Amy could plant a stamp right on her belly.

Oh, and Maddie has fairly flawlessly made her transition back to Laura's for daycare. She seems pretty happy to have lots of kids to play with again, but we have seen signs that she hasn't had to, um, "share" recently. Either that or she's well on her way to "two" a little earlier than scheduled. (I'm betting on a combination of both.)

On a final note, I thought I'd share this picture that I snapped last night. Apparently, when you leave the room to get more paper (20 seconds, people!), she will find a different medium to work with:

(cough, cough) Rant (cough)

Gentle readers, I present to you my Top 5 least favorite things about spring cold season:

5. The cold will inevitably start with the youngest member of your family. Caring for said youngster will wear you down until you to submit to the fury that is the spring cold.

4. The kid will fare better and recover far sooner than you will.

3. Coughing keeps everyone awake. Coughing will cause your child to wake up in the middle of the night. It is almost impossible to fall asleep next to someone who is coughing. It is also completely impossible to fall asleep while coughing, as Jon and I both discovered at 11 p.m. last night.

2. At some point, someone will leave a tissue in their pocket, and the tissue will go through the washer and dryer causing you to spend an extra 15 minutes picking tiny bits of 2-ply out a load of clean laundry.

1. Snot. Tonight, instead of a good-night kiss, my darling, dearest girl gave me a hug and then grabbed a fistful of my t-shirt and wiped her nose on it.

Ah, spring cold season, I would curse you unto heaven, if it wouldn't result in a massive coughing fit...

Tete-a-Toddler: Conversations with a Budding Linguist

Time: Friday evening

Place: the kitchen table

Jon: Maddie, are you pooping?

Maddie: (red in the face, eyes watering, grunting) No.

Jon: Maddie, you're pooping! Are you pooping?

Maddie: (still the same, but possibly louder grunting) No.

Jon: Maddie-

Maddie: Bye-bye, Daddy.

Me: Maddie, what are you doing? Are you pooping?

Maddie: Bye-bye, Mommy.


Time: Saturday afternoon

Place: the kitchen table

Me: Maddie, you need to eat more chicken.

Maddie: (very seriously and with a slight nod) A bee-ana.

Me: We're not having bananas for lunch. You need to eat more chicken.

Maddie: A bee-ana.

Me: No bananas. We don't even have any bananas. Are you all out of milk? Do you want some water?

Maddie: A bee-ana. (Still completely serious)

Me: There are no bananas. You need to eat more chicken, or you're done with lunch.

Maddie: A bee-ana.


Time: Sunday evening

Place: Living room (during the Bracket unveiling, which is the only reason she was allowed to eat in the living room)

Me: Maddie, are you going to eat more of your pizza?

Maddie: No. Ah dun.

Me: Do you want some more broccoli?

Maddie: Yeah!


Time: Monday afternoon

Place: Kitchen

Maddie: A walk.

Me: No, it's too windy to go for a walk.

Maddie: A walk! (Pushing her trike-stroller into the kitchen)

Me: Sorry, baby, but we can't go on a walk today. You can walk out to get the mail with me, if you want.

Maddie: A walk!

Me: Sweetie, no. No walk.

Maddie: Tah-git*?

That's my girl...

*Tah-git = Target

Now We're All Sacred

Following long-standing Western, religious tradition (sort of), we had Maddie baptized last Sunday. I say sort of because, as a supremely helpful sales-person at Macy's pointed out to us, most parents who consecrate their children do so when they're very small, but Jon and I hadn't found a church we liked when she was born, and blah, blah, blah.

Anyway, my feelings that it's-no-body's-business-when-we-get-our-child-baptized-especially-if-you-happen-to-sell-dresses-at-Macy's aside, we finally found a time when all of her grandparents, god-parents, aunts and uncle could be there, and we set it up with the Pastor. Unfortunately for us, this completely nasty weather that's been dogging Kansas all winter (although, only on the weekends, seemingly), decided to load us all up with lots of snow and ice the night before, so my parents and my dad's parents weren't able to attend, and Maddie's godmother (Hi, Kendra!) arrived about ten minutes after the ceremony. (She was able to have the pastor do an impromptu service in the sanctuary doorway as we left, so no worries. It's all official.) That aside, things went pretty smoothly, and we followed up the service with a brunch at her uncle/godfather's house. (Chris, I will apologize again for Jon. I'm sorry he didn't tell you you'd need to stand up in front of everyone with us. It was very remiss of him.)

Below are some pictures that Maddie's 'Pa' (Larry Stoppel) snapped the day of. Thanks to everyone who came and helped make it a special day (and thanks also to those of you who wished you could be there. We understand.) (Also, please ignore my rather flip tone concerning all of this. I know it's a serious and important event; I really do. It's that I'm, well, flip. It's what I do. --A)

During the ceremony. I'm not really nervous about the service. Don't ask me why I look like that...

The parade around the church. The pastor is supposed to carry her, but she wasn't having any of that.

Maddie being admired in the kitchen.

Aunt Christa, doing her best to stain Maddie's nice white dress with purple grapes.

Maddie and Daddy opening a few baptism gifts.

Um, I only included this picture because we all look so attractive, but Kendra and Erica can't hate me because I'm in it, too.

Oh, I'm soooooo tired from all this baptismal stuff. Being good in church sure does take it out of you...

Happy Belated Heart Day

So, I know it's a little late, but you know how they say love never dies or something equally cheesy, and blah, blah, blah. Anyway, Valentine's Day post.

This year, Jon and I didn't make any elaborate plans because 1) it was a Sunday, and Mondays are hard enough without having been up too late, and 2) do you know how hard it is to get a babysitter on Valentine's Day? Either you pay someone more than your actual dinner would cost to (in our case) sit in your house while your kid sleeps (and this requires a lot of advance planning because teenage girls go fast on Feb. 14), or you have to beg a family member, which means they either move their celebration to a different day or you're cruelly reminding them that while you have plans for Heart Day, they have nothing better to do than watch your kid. Taking all that into consideration, or saving ourselves the time we would have spent considering it, Jon asked if he could make me dinner after Maddie went to bed, and I said that would be lovely.

Before said dinner, we did as much pink and red happiness for the Madster as we thought she'd understand. First, on Saturday, my sister and I took her to Target while we picked out V-Day stuff for her: a new plate and bowl set with monkeys on it, a completely stereotypical stuffed red monkey clutching a heart that reads "Love", and a pillow with monkeys and bananas on it that Christa insisted she must have. Do you sense a theme? She really likes monkeys right now, or "mun-tees" as she calls them. Strangely, I'm pretty sure that if she saw a real, live, honest-to-goodness monkey, she would have no clue what it was. She'd probably call it a kitty. Sunday morning, she was about as excited as you'd expect her to be about the presents, which is not very. It's more about the unwrapping for her. Also, I don't think she had any clue that she wasn't seeing all this stuff for the first time. Probably the last year for that...

Following this, we took her over to Lawrence (so Jon could help his dad install a new window in the Yellow House bathroom), and she was further spoiled by her grandparents. Hello Kitty doll? Check. Very realistic KU pom-poms? Check. (Um, and she will use them to do her very own version of the Rock Chalk Chant, so we'll try to get that video'd and get that up, soonish.) Earlier in the week, she also received an extra-adorable pair of slippers that look like red Mary Janes from Grandma and Grandpa (my mom made them!), and Mommy and Daddy received several extra pounds--I mean about four dozen chocolate-chip cookies. (I'm embarrassed to say that they're almost all gone.) Maddie seems to think Grandma works for Nike, though, and that the slippers will make her extra fast. Every time I put them on her, she just runs around like a crazy person. No idea...

Ah, but the pièce de résistance was yet to come. Later in the day, I went out and got her, wait for it, her very own Mylar Elmo balloon! I know. I'm too kind. She was pretty excited, and since it's still floating around the house, she usually makes a beeline for it when she gets home from daycare. I think I'm going to miss the days when a balloon could make her the happiest girl in the world.

Maddie and her beloved "Ah-bow" balloon (Oh, and Daddy's nose). (Photos by Larry and Nancy Stoppel)

Finally, that evening, after we packed her off to bed, Jon pulled lobster pot pies from the oven, opened a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, and we had dinner all by ourselves. We even ate in the dining room, which we never do. After dinner (which was amazing, and since the recipe makes four individual pot pies, I'm equally excited about the two pies now residing in our freezer), Jon and I settled down to watch more Lost while munching on homemade chocolate covered strawberries. Not the height of romanticism, but I loved it. It was relaxing, low-key, and I didn't even have to change clothes.

Lobster pot pie....Mmmmmm. (Photo by Jon Stoppel)

End note: I'd like to give a little shout-out to my friend Emily, who addressed V-Day haters on her blog last week. I completely agree with her, and I'd just like to say that while a lot of it is over-commercialized and fake, we live in a very busy, fast-paced society, and if there is a day that reminds us that we need to take time out to do something a little special for the people we care most about, I think that's a good thing. (Well, that, and lobster pot pie...yummmmm.)

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First things first: Yes, yes, I know. Two and a half (okay, really almost three) weeks without a new blog post is way too long. I'm sorry, okay? It's just that there really hasn't been that much going on, and our camera battery is dead, and we keep forgetting to charge it, so we have nothing to write about and no cute pictures to post, and really, you all just come here for the pictures anyway. Admit it.

So, I think, going forward, when I'm out of specific topics to ramble on about or adorable photos to share, I'm going to write something I'm titling a "Placeholder" to keep you generally updated on the goings-on at Casa de Webster-Stoppel (or the Stopster house, as we occasionally like to refer to it).

Since our last post (and seriously, not to call you all out since I've been a blog-writing slacker lately, but how could more of you not have commented on the world's most adorable video?), Maddie has recovered from pneumonia, but it seems that she's segued right into teething, canines no less. This makes her really grumpy, she's running a low fever on and off, and to top it off, she hasn't sleep past 6 a.m. once in the past week. In fact, in the past two days, she hasn't slept past 5:30 a.m. She's still sleeping through the night; she just seems to disagree with her parents as to what constitutes an acceptable end-time for "night." To make matters worse, her usual daycare provider went on maternity leave last Thursday, so we're also dealing with the side-effects of putting her in a new childcare situation. (And don't get me wrong, Michelle's been great. It's just that it's a new place, and while children are very adaptable, they're not quite as adaptable as people will try to lead you to believe.) So, we've been dealing with some serious separation-anxiety at drop-off and bed times, and I feel like this may also have a leeeetle bit to do with why she's getting up so damn early. (Sorry for the cursing, but dudes, I seriously need some sleep, or barring that, at least some "me" time in the morning. This morning, she played with the sliding glass doors to our shower--while I was trying to wash...)

Let's see. What else? Jon and I finally started working on the upstairs bathroom that has taunted me with its hideous '80s wallpaper since we moved in, so we've got that going on. This, of course, means that we've had to move all of Maddie's bath stuff into our bathroom, so right now, my vanity area is not only covered with books, toys, and old jewelry, it's also covered with soft plastic bath toys and towels. It's okay to be jealous of my life, really. Anyway (do you see how lack of sleep affects my mood, people?), so far, we've taken down the offending wallpaper, removed all the cabinets and drawers, taken down the baseboards, torn up the carpet that was covering the step-I-thought-was-going-away-but-now-appears-to-be-staying, and sanded down the cabinets and drawers in preparation for priming and painting somewhere down the line. Our next steps will be to de-popcorn the ceiling and tear out the weird divider/privacy wall by the toilet. I've always found that little half-wall pointless. I mean, I get that maybe it shields the toilet, but it's not like our bathroom is as big as Grand Central Station (or probably even the bathrooms in Grand Central Station). If someone is in there with you while you're going to the bathroom, trust me, you're going to know about it. We'll put up some before, after, and during pictures once the project is completed. Moving on...

Not really sure what to move on to. See? It been a slow news week around here. Um, doo-da-doo-da-doo. Oh, Maddie's been dropping complete sentences every once in a while lately, so that's sort of exciting, right? She'll ask for "More milk, please" or various versions of a request. She'll ask "Where'd [so-and-so] go?" I don't know if she gets all the individual words in phrases such as the last one, but she's repeating the entire phrase, and she knows what it means, so that's good. Her vocabulary is already pretty large for a kid her age (even her doctor said so, so it's not just me being all proud-mom-my-child's-so-special-and-gifted), but it seems like she learns new words every day. They stick, too, which is good. She knows how to ask what something is, and a week or so ago, she busted out the word "spaghetti" at daycare. Okay, so it was more like "bahgeddi", but it was clear enough that Laura (may her maternity leave be pleasant) understood her.

Trying to think if there's anything else going on. Jon and I are currently obsessed with Lost, which yes, I know, is sooooo 2004, but we've been watching it on Netflix, and we're hooked. We're only on Season 2, so if you watch it, for the love of the hatch, don't tell us anything about it, and please, people, don't post anything about it on Facebook or Twitter or what have you. It will only ruin it for the rest of us. Also, shame-moment, the Lost-cession may or may not have something to do with the recent blog silence as of late. I'm sorry. I'll try not to neglect you for so long in the future.

And now, because I told you that our lives weren't currently that exciting and also because we all know it's true, here's the picture you really all read this for anyway:

This was taken last weekend when Maddie and her soon-to-be cousin Oliver were playing at her Uncle Chris'. (Photo courtesy of Nancy "Nana" Stoppel.)

Pneumonia: An Update

As I sit in the house I have not left in 91 hours, 30 minutes, and 12 seconds, I realize that I sort of left you all hanging with the "Maddie Has Pneumonia" poem. (Spend that much time in the house by yourself, and you get a little slap-happy. I'm beginning to see why all grade-school teachers talk in high, sing-song voices and look so creepily happy all the time. It's not the kids; it's the crazy.) So, anyway, for a quick update:

As of yesterday, she's doing a lot better. Her fever seems to be gone, or mostly gone, her breathing is better, her appetite is somewhat larger, and her energy level is up. Unfortunately, for me, her energy level is up, did I mention that? See, she's better, but she's still feeling pretty awful, I would imagine. Her throat still hurts, she still has coughing fits, and now, because all she'll drink is juice, she's got diarrhea to top it all off. So, mostly this new energy burst has been used to fuel a new level of crankiness. This level includes crying whenever you don't get what you want (even though what you wanted was "dat" pointed in a random direction at a shelf full of "dats"), crying when you spill your milk and it (gasp!) touches you, and crying for no reason whatsoever, simply because it pleases you to do so. It also includes throwing food when you don't want to eat it and hitting and pinching Mommy when she tries to change your diaper, wipe your nose, or any other undignified thing that awful woman might think of. Oh, and there's definitely guilt-inducing crying after being reprimanded for either of the latter. Yeah, because nothing makes you feel good like raising your voice to a sick kid...

To top if all off, the inevitable has occurred. I'm sick. I have some kind of nasty sinus infection/cold that means I'm dead to the world on the couch by 8 p.m. most nights. (Jon may be sort of loving this since it means he can play his PS3 in peace, without feeling guilty that we're not spending time together.) I knew it would happen. It always does when I stay home with her for more than a couple days. Plus, this week, I've been working from home with her home, and while it's been a light week, between that, taking care of Grumpypants McFussyshorts, and trying to keep on top of the household stuff, I've been attempting super-human feats, and not being a super-hero myself, the germs have gotten the upper hand, and I've been foiled by those dastardly villains again. (Editor's Note: Even through my exhausted haze, I'm pretty excited that I just managed to use the word dastardly. It's okay to be jealous.)

My whining aside, Maddie's doctor said it would be about three full days on the antibiotic before we'd notice a change, and he was right. We're hoping that the weekend will be the recovery time she needs, and she'll be back to her normal, cheerful self come Monday. And now, I hear her on the monitor, which means, she's up for the day, and me time is over. Keep your fingers crossed for another fever-free day and some blessed relief for me when Jon gets home this afternoon.

iMom

If you spend enough time with the Madster, you will quickly realize that the girl loves her some music. In fact, this week, she finally learned the word, music--mu-uk--and she does use it in context, asking for the musical lamb figurine on her dresser during diaper changes and rushing over to the CD player to have some of her mu-uk played. (Oh, and don't even think about pushing the buttons yourself. It will only end in a meltdown...)

In general, we're all for a love of the musical. We're more than happy to play her CDs, sing her songs, and we've enrolled her in a second Kindermusik course this Winter/Spring. However, lately, she's taken it a little too far. Miss Thing has decided that Mommy is an iPod. Not only does she almost constantly request her favorite songs (and loudly refuse to hear anything else you might feel like singing), she also requests them in "inconvenient" places. For instance, the last two times I've picked her up from daycare, she's greeted me with a hug and a request for Ernie. This also happens almost every time we go somewhere in the car, in restaurants, and this evening, in the grocery store. I've tried explaining that everyone in Aisle 3 does not want to hear Elmo, but she's pretty insistent. (I didn't sing in the grocery store. That's just not a place I'm prepared to go.)

So, in honor of Maddie and her mobile musical tastes, here's a sample playlist:

1. Ah-bo (Elmo's Song)

2. Ehw-nee (Rubber Ducky)

3. Up uh buh buh (Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star)

4. Bussss (Wheels on the Bus) (Complete with some phrases and actions. Adorable!)

5. Wo Wo (Row, Row, Row Your Boat)

6. Koo Koo (Little Bunny Foo Foo)

7. Yawk (Rock-a-Bye Baby)

8. Gawk Gawk (the Rock Chalk chant)

If you start to sing something she doesn't want you to sing, she'll yell "No, noooo" at you, and don't be surprised if she changes her mind mid-song, especially if she's asked you to sing "Ehw-nee" (Five bucks says she'll ask you to sing Ah-bo instead).

And finally, not because they're related but because someone asked, here are a couple of pictures from our trip back to Washington this weekend:

I Love Her, but...

In which I rant, whine, and generally complain and no one feels sorry for me.

I love my daughter. I love her to pieces. Can't imagine my life without her, but as every parent knows, there are some things about parenthood I could do without (unless you're one of those crazy, over-involved parents who actually likes changing diapers, wiping snot, and cleaning cheerios out of every crevice in your house, in which case, I have one word for you: Nut Job). Herein, in the rant for which none of you will feel sympathy, I list some of the things I will not miss about early toddlerhood:

1. I will be sooooo glad when the first finger on my right hand no longer smells permanently of Desitin. Seriously...

2. I will be forever grateful when my bathroom no longer looks like this on a regular basis:

3. I'll be super-excited when I can walk into my kid's bedroom and not be met by a wall of diaper-smell. It doesn't seem to matter how often we clean/empty the trashcan. The smell abides.

4. I will not miss the daily force-brushing of teeth that only results in tears, screaming, and biting:

5. I will gladly bid a not-so-fond farewell to the nightly pajama wrangling that usually ends in more screaming, along with some thrashing, kicking, and overall unhappiness.

As I said above, I know no one is going to feel sorry for me, but sometimes, you just need to unload.

The Great Pumpkin (Patch Visit)

First of all, let me apologize for the title. I don't know how many of you are familiar with the Charlie Brown Halloween special I'm referring to, but I thought it was clever. On further consideration, it's probably not that funny, but I'm too lazy to think of a new one. Instead, I will spend the time I could have used to think of a better title explaining the lameness of my first one...

Yesterday, we joined Chris, Meghan, and Oliver and took Maddie for her first visit to the pumpkin patch, which only seemed fitting in light of her current love affair with all things round and orange. (Um, just realized basketball season is right around the corner...) It was pretty windy, but we think she really enjoyed herself. She probably would have enjoyed herself more if her Mommy and Daddy weren't such sticks in the mud and would have allowed her to touch, taste, or throw every. single. pumpkin. she. saw. No, really. She still thinks they're balls, so she tries to throw them, and the fact that they don't bounce does not deter her in the least.

In the end, both she and Daddy each chose one pumpkin--Daddy chose a large one with a "nice, flat front" for carving and Maddie chose a small little guy we've nicknamed Arnie. (It helps to nickname anything she's knows by name; otherwise, as soon as you say "pumpkin" she's all "ba-ba? ba-ba?")

Below are some pictures of our visit to Schaake's Pumpkin Patch, located between Eudora and Lawrence. For anyone in the area that's wondering about the experience as a whole, it's not bad. It was really crowded, being the first non-rainy weekend in all of October, and it was a long walk from the parking area to the patch and back. They did have tractor-pulled flatbeds that transported people back and forth, but they were also crowded and hard to come by. Maddie did have a really good time, just seeing that many pumpkins was super-exciting for her, but I think it'll be something that gets better as she gets older. Anyway, the pictures:

Who's Your Mommy?

Recently, Jon and I were getting ready to go to sleep, and he asked me what my favorite thing was about Maddie since she turned a year old. I said, "Hearing her call me Mommy and getting a hug when I pick her up from daycare." Having been forced to read/listen to my rants about her lack of interest in acknowledging or saying "Mommy", I know you'll be delighted (or perhaps just relieved) to hear that she's finally calling me by name, and not just saying my name when people point to me, but asking for me and calling to me. It's a full-blown Ma-mee, too. She does call me Ma-ma, sometimes, but as with Jon and "Da-dee", it's usually the complete word, correctly enunciated and everything.

I think this is another one of those "life-moments" (that's a really cheesy term I just used, sorry...) that you're never fully prepared for, a moment that just barrels into you at high speed. When you have kids, or find out you're having kids, or birth kids, or whatever context works for you, you think about the first time they'll call you Mommy or Daddy or Great-step-aunt-Myrtle, but when it happens, oh-my-goodness, the feeling is boundless. I can't really describe it in better terms. It just overtakes you; you can't breathe for a second because did that just?, really?, at me?, for real? It's addictive, this being addressed by name. We still haven't gotten tired of it, even when it comes in the form of a whine. (Oh, and we dont' really have a Great-aunt-Myrtle. You didn't just forget part of the family tree. No worries.)

Now for the hugging: She's been giving hugs for quite a while now, when you ask for them, so nothing really new there, but for the last two weeks or so, she's been giving completely spontaneous, self-motivated hugs when I pick her up from daycare. I walk in the door, she gets excited, grins, proudly displays to me whatever toy she's playing with, and begins toddling around the furniture toward me. She used to stop just short of my reach (she never really wants to go home from daycare--daycare has better toys) and just show me her toy before turning around and wandering off to play with the dog or the kitchen magnets. Now, however, she comes up and snuggles her head into my shoulder, just for a few seconds, but long enough for it to be a purposeful hug. I don't want to put words in her mouth, but I see it as her way of saying, "Hey, I missed you. I don't really want to go home with you, but if you want to stay here and play with me, that would be great. I'm just glad you're around." It's nice to feel, if not needed, wanted, and the hug is one of the first signs of physical affection she's shown us all on her own. It's a way of saying "I like being with you, too," when full-sentences and thoughts are a long way off. (Again, with the putting of words in her mouth. I could be wrong. She may just be resting before going back to play with the dog.)

Before I wrap this up, I must apologize, as usual, for our lack of blogging of late. This fall is gearing up to be one of the busiest on record, and of course before anyone says it, I know they just get busier. I'm aware. We did go to the zoo for the first time this Sunday, so we'll try to get a post and a few pictures up from that, and of course, we'll have an assortment of tailgating/football photos at some point this season. Until then, enjoy this completely unrelated, but seriously adorable, photo of Maddie that Nana snapped earlier this fall.

Of Weaning and Whining (and Wining and Sushi)

WARNING: This post contains very detailed information about breastfeeding and weaning. If you feel that this is something you may be uncomfortable with, please do not read this post. If you do read it and are subsequently offended or unsettled, the writer and other contributors to this blog take no responsibility for your lack of judgement.

So, it's official. Maddie is weaned and I am, for the time being, finished breastfeeding. Since I know there are several people who read this blog who are breastfeeding or will be breastfeeding, I thought it might be helpful to outline the process a little since I, for one, had a lot of trouble finding information on weaning when I needed it. Well, sort of. I could find information on weaning a baby. What I couldn't find information on was weaning a mom. I found article after article on cutting back on feedings slowly, introducing the bottle, etc., but I found one, seriously ONE, article on what I should expect as I went from milk factory to empty barn. (It was on Babble, of course.)

Anyway, basically, I began cutting back on feedings in June. I went from pumping three times a day to pumping twice a day and then once a day and then not at all during the day. We switched Maddie to goat's milk and then cow's milk, and aside from the fact that she still refuses to drink cow's milk out of a sippy-cup (coming soon to Webster-Stoppel Family, the epic saga of Bottle vs. Cup!), it went very well. In fact, from her perspective, I was sort of sad that she didn't seem to miss me or my milk more. In reality, Jon and I were actually quite glad the transition was smooth. I eventually got to the point where I was only nursing her morning and night, then only in the morning, and on the morning of her birthday party, I nursed her for the last time, and that was it. Out of business.

As for what my body did, well, it wasn't quite that smooth. Aside from the actual shutting down, going from pumping twice a day to pumping once a day was the most difficult. I chose to cut feedings out over the weekends, so I wouldn't be sitting at my desk at work leaking through my clothes, but that meant there were several times during the weekends that I was in some other public place hoping I didn't leak through my clothes. And yes, it's painful, although, not as painful as some descriptions I've heard. My breasts were rock solid, unmoving, hot, and painful. I did not want to be touched, and by the end of it all, raising my arms over my head hurt. Getting dressed in the morning was challenging, and following The Last Supper (or breakfast as the case may be), I wore sports bras for a week solid.

Then, strangely, after a week of pain, clogged ducts about which I could do nothing, embarrassingly large breasts, ill-fitting tops, and disrupted sleep, everything just went away. By the Sunday following our last feeding session, my breasts were still very sore, but they weren't massive and immovable. By Monday, it was over. As for the aftermath, it's not too bad. (She writes while tilting her head a little and squinting, trying to decide how she really feels.) Yes, my breasts are smaller and they seem to have lost a little, um, elasticity, but they're not flat as pancakes and hanging out in the vicinity of my belly-button, either. Plus, I'm actually thinner now than I was before I got pregnant, so who's to say some of this wouldn't have happened anyway, baby or no. Regardless, though, I will admit that it's taking some getting used to. I'd become accustomed to my larger bust-line, and now instead of the ladies seeming smaller, I feel like everything else got bigger. It's a weird scale, perspective thing, and I have to keep reminding myself that I probably didn't gain five pounds in a week.

Emotionally, I don't think I experienced any major hormone shifts at the end, but you may need to check with Jon. I was a little "pissy" for a week or so, but I don't remember it being too out of control. I will say that I was surprised by how emotional I had become about nursing. While it was going on, I never really felt one way or another about it. It was something that needed to be done, and sometimes I was happy to do it, and sometimes it was a huge inconvenience, truthfully. However, the first night I didn't nurse her before she went to bed, the urge to do so was very strong. I really, really wanted to, and I had to keep reminding myself that I had to quit at some point. Plus, she was ready. She'd been ready for a while.

As for the sushi part of the title, to put a positive spin on weaning and celebrate some of the activities I can now return to whole-heartedly, Jon, some friends, and I are going out for cocktails and sushi this Saturday--cocktails because I mostly avoided hard alcohol while I was breastfeeding (and before anyone flips out, I was very careful to wait appropriate amounts of time or pump and dump even when drinking wine and beer), and sushi because it's best to avoid the whole raw fish thing while you're feeding another person, bacteria and all that.

And so it ends, and I can stop writing warning labels for so many posts, unless, of course, Maddie decides to repeat the "Great Poo Incident of 2009"...

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to burn my nursing bras. Those things were awful.

Party Like a Rockstar: A Photo Essay

What's all this? A party? Just for me?*


Oh, you guys! You really shouldn't have. I'm so happy I could squat!


And look at everyone who's here. It's my lovely and talented aunts!


Mommy, what is that? Why is there fire on it? Why is everyone singing? Why am I half-naked? Never mind, I don't care if I'm naked. Can I touch that?


Hmmm, I find this green and brown circle intriguing. It smells delightful...


Birthday cake rocks!


Step away from my cake. I am NOT sharing.


Everyone else seems to be enjoying their cake, too.


And then, like most good parties, there was an awkward and inappropriate make-out session in front of everyone. The whole school is going to be talking about this on Monday...


Then there were wagon rides!


I'm not sure what it says about our daughter, kissing one man at the party, and then catching a ride with someone completely different.


Oh, tissue paper! How rapturous!


I love football (and my new Reesing jersey from my uncle)!


#5, small but mighty


Oh, my head feels so much better without my pig-tails. I'm not sure why everyone's laughing, but I'm just going to go along with it. It can't be at me. I look fabulous!


Fabulous, indeed.

*(All photos by Larry Stoppel and Marc Webster.)

Jon and I would just like to take a moment to thank everyone who came to her party and most of all, our parents for all their help in getting ready, setting up, getting food, and cleaning. Maddie had a great time, and so did we. You guys are also rockstars! Thanks a million!

Whose "Genes" Are You Wearing?

As Maddie reaches the one-year mark, we thought it might be fun to compare pictures of the one-year-old Madster to pictures of her mother and father at about the same age:

First up, we have Jon, who seems to have developed an affinity for overalls and turtlenecks. Also, if you look closely, I believe you will see a certain blue blankie in the background of the last shot...

Next, we have me and my blue ruffles, courtesy of the early '80s. By the way, feel free to make fun of my dad's awesome 'fro. We always do. (Love you, Dad!)

Finally, we have the lovely and talented Madeline Olivia who can always be counted on to bring a certain amount of "goof" to any occasion (unless the occasion is an outdoor photo session, that is.)

So, what do you think? Seeing what we had to work with, we think she turned out pretty well. Any thoughts on who she most resembles right now?