I think Hilary may be onto something with her post here.

I don't think that Morella has a case of the Mommie's like she used too...it's more like now she has a case of "pay attention to me all the time!" But really it's only when she wants attention and it's not there then she goes from Happy to Very Angry in a matter of seconds. Seriously she has pulled out the waterworks lately for small things like: me taking a shower, going to into the bedroom for any reason, taking a nap (since our bedroom is where she naps...that makes sense). But why the nap hating all of a sudden? She needs those naps! She gets mad when I put her in the high chair to do something in the kitchen that cannot be done one handed. When she is in the exersaucer for too long (which can be 2 minutes or 20). She cries when I turn on the vacuum cleaner. When she has to get dressed. When her diaper is changed. When she doesn't want to play little bunny fo fo anymore. Gah, it's for the slightest of reasons it's seems! She is definitely going through a sensitive stage right now. She startles easily and doesn't seem quite as sure as she once was about everything.

Thankfully as I type this, she is napping. When does finally go down for her afternoon nap they tend to be about 1.5-2 hours. It's a nice change, but it also means I have to be go go go in the morning. It's also a little harder to get the early evening pump in because she'll be awake and I can't exactly hold her..and sigh.

One other Morella note before I move on -- she started sucking her thumb! It's been alternating between just a finger and the thumb but apparently the thumb is easier to do. I wonder if it will stick around.

I have been taking walks in the morning at around 11:00. I am going to have to move that earlier when summer really hits to avoid the noonday sun, but for now it's a start. Pluto gets all excited now when he sees me pull out the stroller because that means he is going to get a walk too. I don't think Morella has quite made the connection between the appearance of the stroller and a walk. I bet it's coming soon since she is making other connections (like the bedroom and naps). What I don't like is that Pluto is now taking a big dump on this walk. I HATE picking up dog poop. Hate it.

I managed to clean the living room today...ahh thank goodness. I bit the bullet and vacuumed as she was going down her nap. I figured since she was going to cry anyway about taking a nap might as well make it about two things. Operation dejunkify and clean house is still well under way. I finished up cleaning up the front entranceway this weekend. Right now we are working on the office in preparation of the new sofa. I took a picture once of the office so that it can be ready for a really good "now and then" later on. Trust me when I tell you it was a disaster. Oh that reminds me to take a photo of the living room before the couch gets here. I can't wait. I would like to have folks over to play a board game or something when it happens.

Today was the first day that I was able to dry Morella's diapers on the clothesline. I had to take her out with me while I hung them. I put her on a soft blanket under some shade and let her do some tummy time -- which never lasts long anymore before she flips herself. She seems to really enjoy being outside. They dried pretty quick and now are all sort of stiff. I hope that doesn't translate to being uncomfortable. You aren't supposed to add softener to diapers otherwise it messes with the absorbency. One cool thing is that the sun did get rid of the stains that had accumulated on some of them from poopsplosions. The power of the sun is amazing!

Oh the neighbor boy across the street is throwing a tantrum. He's hopping around crying and says ... "I want...blah blah" WHINE .... "I want ...." WHINE! I think he's about ... no wait that was the little girl. I think she is 2 or 3. Just wait until Morella does that! I can't wait!! I hope it happens in public places, and cramp quarters where I can't do anything about it. Oh I am just kidding.

Last night Hilary and I went out for a fancy drink at Jade Monkey. I had a Mai Tai for the first time and it was pretty tasty! I started to feel bad for being a boring stick in the mud after awhile and got to reminiscing about being in Chicago and going to play pool on Wednesday's with Eric (and later on) Kate. Those were good times! I wish I had the zest for going out and doing things like that now. To be fair, I now have the wide open world of "day time" to go out and explore the city and do stuff. I really want to meet some other Mom's for activity partners ... but I am just so unsure about how to go about it. It seems like every other Mom I see looks perfectly happy and content already. I noticed that there is a woman who lives a few houses up from with me a baby that is a few months older than Morella and a small boy. I think she is a stay home Mom...I should work up the guts to bake something and go over there and introduce myself.

What's the worst that could happen? They would think I am crazy.

Hilary has it so easy she lives in a neighborhood choke full of kids and only has to go the park to meet folks. Living in a mixed age neighborhood like mine makes that a little harder. Oh listen to me go on, the grass is always greener when you are a scardy cat like myself looking for reasons to not take the plunge and take a risk.

Alright, I should figure out what we are having for dinner before Morella wakes up. Last night we had sandwiches and salad because fancy bread was in the discount bakery section. We still have bread and sandwich stuff...maybe we should do that again except this time have soup. No wait, I think I need to make something with leftovers for tomorrow's lunch. Boo!

One more thing -- I took my friends Sarah's lead about losing some weight by dropping snacking, second lunches or breakfast and extra desserts last week and am already down two pounds! Just gotta keep it up and figure out more ways to work in exercise. You know like lunges with Morella, more dancing time, 10 situps before getting out of bed, 10 mini-push ups off the bathroom counter every time I use the bathroom...that sort of thing.

Alright, alright dinner isn't gonna make itself.

PS: And to answer your question Laura -- I use photoshop to make the collages.