Last week, Whitney and I were invited to spend time at Jake's house. Jake is a 2 year old little boy in Whitney's gym class, and his mom, Megan, ROCKS. :) And what's even better? Megan introduced me to Erin and Erin's daughter, Natalia, at a story time at our local library about 2 months ago. Megan, Erin, and I have had so much fun watching our kids become good friends at playdates at the mall, the gym, and story time. We have been lucky enough to have everyone over to our house, and Whitney and I were excited to have fun at Jake's house last week. Whitney loves Jake and Natalia and I heart Megan and Erin...what more do you need for a fun playdate??
Can't you feel the love?
Unfortunately, Whitney was all talk and no play. Before we got to Jake's, Whitney was excited and saying things like "Mommy, I see 'Taa-yuh!?" ("Taa-yuh" = Talia = Natalia) and "Go Gake's house!" (Gake = Jake)
She was ACTING excited and like she was ready to enjoy and dive into the toys at a friends' house.
However, when we got there, the separation anxiety set in HARD, and Whitney wouldnt let me out of her sight. I thought it could be the new location, as we had never been to Jake's house before, but she KNOWS Jake and Natalia and Erin and Megan. So when Whitney grabbed her bear blanket and asked for a binky, I started thinking she may not be feeling too hot. Asking for naptime attire at a playdate?? That is sooo not Whitney. As we were packing the kids up to head home from Jake's house, Natalia was happily chatting away in her carseat, while Whitney was passed out before we pulled out of driveway. I thought a nice nap might fix the potential separation/stranger anxiety, so I was glad when she fell asleep right away. However, it is only a 4 minute drive home from Jake's house (how great is that?!), and Whitter was wide awake by the time we got home. A 3 minute nap?? Not gonna cut it. At that point, it was too late to get into her pediatrician, so we took her to the walk-in clinic where they diagnosed her with "Croup" and gave her a prescription for steroids. We left the pedi and dropped the script off, and then had 20 minutes to kill. Whitney was sitting upright in her carseat, so her coughing had stopped enough to give her a break, so we decided to stay in the car and drive around the lake near the hospital where we said goodbye to Nanny/Robin. It was nice to talk about the impact she had on our lives, and how she lives on through things we all say or do that are a result of Robin's effect on our lives. By the time we looped around the lake, the script was ready for pick-up and we were ready to head home and get our baby well.
Whitney and I spent Friday at home all day, resting and relaxing and trying to kick the cough. I will forever be amazed by the amazing effects of Vick's vapo-rub on the feet, as Whitney didnt cough ONCE after I vaporubbed her feet and put some socks on her. AMAZING! She was showing great signs of improvement as the day went on, and was almost 100% back to herself by Friday night, with only 2 dozes of steroids in her. She has a high tolerance for pain, and she quickly responds to antiobiotics/meds.....so blessed!
After a nice day of rest on Friday, we were lucky enough to meet up with a Clemson friend who was in town for business. Devon and I lived in Johnstone A Annex our freshman year at Clemson, and that was probably one of the best years of my life. We had so much fun and so many funny things to remember......it seemed like we just sat down for coffee after going on Spring Break last week; :) THAT's when you know someone was/is a great friend :)
Devon was staying at the Peabody hotel in Orlando. This hotel is famous for their resident ducks. Every day at 11am, the ducks make their way from their Penthouse suite (yes, penthouse), down a special elavator, and into their own private fountain where they spend the day sleeping, eating, and entertaining the guests. Devon invited us to join her for the ducks' morning entrance to the fountain, and Whitney couldnt have been happier! These ducks walk waddle down a red carpet, walk up their own special staircase, and hop into their fountain, all at the direction and guidance of their own "Duck Master"...a 30-something dude who literally makes his living training and keeping track of 5 mallard ducks all day.
Devon knew right where to sit for Whitney to get the best view of the ducks!
She was sooo happy to be sooo close to the ducks!
She reallllly wanted to touch the real duck, but was smart enough to settle for the rubber ducky given to her by the Duck Master himself. :)
After a while, Devon had to attend to the business she was in towsn for, so we headed to EPCOT with Eric's cousin Mandi, her boyfriend Oliver, their daughter Kaia, and Oliver's mom, Olive. It was Kaia's first Disney experience, and it was a little chilly, but we all had fun spending time together, and seeing the girls interact.
How cool are these cousins??!
And we realized that Whitney's "stranger/separation anxiety" was likely just a product of her illness, as she lovingly ran into Mickey's arms and seemed to forget who Mommy and Daddy were for a while :)
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| Her lil legs are thinning out and looking more like a big girl! :( Where are those chunky toddler legs?!) |
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| Attempt at a Bass family picture on the Nemo ride: FAIL. |
And when we got home from our Peabody/Disney day, it was especially fun to see these guys in our backyard. It was like they knew we had just visited the "elite" ducks at the hotel downtown, and they wanted to hear all about the duck penthouse :)
After a marathon nap, Whitney was thrilled to wake up and have ANOTHER playdate with Connor at her house! These two get along SOO well, and really have fun together. Connor is such a GREAT kid, and we adore his parents Christine and Matt :) We hope these two have a bright future together :) We may or may or be planning their wedding :)
After a SUPER fun weekend with friends and family, and after determining that Whitney's sudden fear of strangers was, in fact, a result of illness and not legit FEAR, we were ready to get back into the sing of life on Monday morning. Whitney suddenly seemed to notice that her doll from Mac and Gramps was wearing a tutu. And suddenly, instantly, that sweet doll became her new favorite.
"Mommy, baby wear tutu! Mommy? Whitttey wear tutu??"
OF COURSE, you can wear a matching tutu!!!
I have always sang silly songs or nursery rhymes with Whitney, but she has recently started asking for favorites. She said, "Mommy, tea pot!" so I started singing "I'm a lil tea pot, short and stout..." and she would laugh hysterically and tip her baby over when we got to "TIP me over and pour me OUT!" I dont know who was having more fun, or who wanted to keep singing more!
We probably tipped over and sang tea pot 50 times before breakfast :)
Since Whitney was boycotting gym class, we decided to invite our fun neighbors to the park with us this week. Why the gym boycott? Not 100% sure. Could be that she is bored...which wouldnt be shocking since she knows the entire routine from beginning to end. Could be that she was just starting to feel sick last week, and wasnt diggin' the hands-on time with teachers and classmates. Could be that she just knows that the weather is about to warm up, and that means FREE park time ahead!
No matter the reason, it was fun to play hookey from gym class and head outdoors for a few hours. Now, every parent thinks that their kid is the BEST ever....as you should. But this is my blog, and let me tell you......Whitney is the BEST toddler soccer player EVER! :)
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| Summer and I always feel successful when we get a pic of all three kids in one shot. :) Because this is what our playdates usually look like: |
Summer gets a great workout chasing the boys, who inevitably and invariably choose to dart in opposite directions :) Ahhh, twin boys :)
Whitney was content to kick her soccer ball around and score goals in the big net next to the playground :) This is a really great park with huge open spaces to run and play, and a "big kid" playground right next to a "little kid" playground and some picnic tables. It was great to get outdoors and get some sun and see Whitney enjoy some real exercise :)
But have no fear!!! She may be the next Olympic soccer star, but she will be wearing light-up heels and carrying a microphone and a wand as she accepts her trophy! She may have the beginnings of an awesomely coordinated athlete, but she is ALLL Princess!
This past week also had us enjoying more nice weather with a walk around the neighborhood with Aunt Summer and the boys. While we have gone on one walk around the block as a family, I had to capture a pic of our first REAL walk with Bailey and Aunt Summer and Whitney's "da boys" :)
We had a great start to the week, but I was still a litttttttle iffy about Whitney and strangers/new situations/new locations. We stopped by a new preschool that opened near our house. I was just interested in touring the center and getting info re: tuition and schedules for 3 yrs + since that is the first time we'll think about preschool/daycare for Whitney. We walked in the front door of the beautiful new Primrose School, and Whitney INSTANTLY started saying "No, Mommy. No! Bubye...bye. Bubye..." and waving goodbye to the nice Center Director who was ready to give us a tour. HOW does this kid know this is a place where parents drop kids off and dont come back for a little bit? She has never been dropped off at daycare or preschool. She's never even been left with anyone other than my parents! Alas, this preschool tour was not on Whitney's critical "To Do" list, and she wanted it DONE. As we walked through the awesome classrooms, looking at cool toys and hearing about their curriculum, Whitney would wave and say "bubye toys"...or 'bye puppets' or just plain "bye bye!!" She clearly was not interested in sticking around or chillin' with the preschool crowd yet,which is fine since we arent heading their in the next 6 months.....but I thought it was funny that she just KNEW she wasnt gonna like it when we had only taken one step in the door.
As my fears of random meltdowns grew, Whitney and I discussed her upcoming playdate at Natalia's (TAAL-yuh!) house. Everytime I would tell Whitney we were going to play with Natalia, she would say "Mommy RIGHT back!! Mommy right back??" She apprently associated Natalia with me leaving. Im not sure why, other than when I left Jake's house to grab the high chair out of our car...? But I know Whitney always thinks Jake and Natalia exist as one entity, as we have only ever hung out with them together. So when she thought of Natalia, she thought of Jake, and then about how I left her inside while I went outside to quickly (im talking 15 seconds) grab her high chair at Jake's house?? WHo knows. But I was a littttttle concerned that Whitney would get two steps into Natalia's house and lose. her. mind. But I prepared her....and it worked! We had the greatest playdate at Erin and Natalia's house on Thursday!
The girls played with every last one of the gazillion toys they have at Natalia's house, and Whitney only showed signs of distress when I had to go potty. Erin was nice enough to bring her to the bathroom door and let her know that I was coming right out, to which Whitney replied "Right back??" And much to Whitney's pleasure, and as I always promised, I came right back :)
Natalia and Whitney played sooooo well together, and really had fun! Im not sure who enjoyed more: me and Erin, or Whitney and TaaaL-yuh!
How cute is she!? When we got home, Whitney picked up a toy phone and said "Hi Taal-yuh!" I think she missed her playdate buddy :)
And f'real!? WHERE did our baby girl go???!!!
We had such a great week with great friends and family! We were already feeling like we had sooooo much to be grateful for and so much to thank God for,......little did we know we would have an even more fun ahead of us as we headed to Disney World on Friday!
Pics to come tomorrow! PROMISE!! :)
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