Use your words...and your feet!

Update here from the land of Silverstein. We are settled in quite nicely to our home, and the only things standing in the way of completion are a fabulous bedspread for the guest room (shout out to Andrea for her handy skills!) and the Closet of Shame. We have 3 kinds of fruit-bearing trees - figs (an overabundance, if I may say so), limes (not ripe yet), and avocados. It's fun watching the squirrels go after the fruit and chuck the remains...(note to self, do not leave Ivy's pink buggy under the fig tree). We also adopted a sweet hand-me-down play set with a slide and climbing aparatus. Ivy is enjoying that as well, and we are beyond pleased with the new set up.

It's been the summer of ultimate staycations, as we've been on the receiving end of many out of town family member and friend visits. First we had Elyse and Shira from Boston, which was great fun since I haven't seen Elyse in ages and Shira since she was about Ivy's age (she's now 9), so that was lovely to get caught up. The following weekend, Mike's parents came to town and we had many an adventure with them - beaching, brunching, farmers marketing, etc. And finally last weekend, The Fluffies (aka Aunt Erica and Uncle Adam) came for a visit. We relaxed and took Ivy on her first trip to the zoo.

Speaking of animals, my daughter has developed quite the vocabulary, consisting of mostly animal sounds, in addition to "mommy", "daddy", "I-y!" (her name, without the V) and, most importantly, "shoes." Here's a little video of our chatterbox:

And then, on precisely the day she turned 14 months, she decided to put those little feet into action. Here she is, our little walker:

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Won't you be my neighbor?

Despite my hopes at blogging more often, this whole moving thing really threw a wrench in that plan. We're still unpacking, 2 weeks later, and have a soft deadline of this weekend to get things in order when our first house guests arrive. But I'm getting ahead of myself... Here's the LONG version (if the Facebook status updates didn't paint the whole picture):

Before we moved in, we were very excited to meet the neighbors who live upstairs (duplex, remember?) because they have 2 kids - 2 1/2 and 6 months. Perfect - built in friends! And we can share backyard playthings! We imagined all the fun we would have together and how sad we would be when they move (they're planning to move by the end of the year).

Tues: It's night 3 in the house, and Ivy is having a really hard time going to sleep. It's very warm out, she's in a new room, she's on the verge of some big milestones, etc., so the fact that her sleep is disrupted is not terribly worrisome. We put her to sleep at normal time (7:00, give or take) and let her cry a little, since she knows how to self-sooth within 10-15 minutes. At this point the neighbor comes down and gently asks us if we would mind closing the windows in her room since her room is right under their baby's room. I oblige, and crank up the fan (note to self - power bill is going to SUCK!).

By 8 she is awake crying, and our babysitter Y has arrived so Mike and I can go back to the old apartment to finish packing up. We get her back down before we leave, but she wakes while we're gone. Y calls us, and after about 5-10 minutes of crying Ivy is asleep again. She wakes yet again right as I'm about to leave to take Y home, at 10:15. Mike goes in to rock her back to sleep, and I drive Y home, who lives 2 blocks away. The roundtrip could not have taken more than 3 minutes if I tried.

I get out of the car and this is the conversation:

S: Is something wrong with your baby?

Me: No...she's just having a hard time adjusting to her new surroundings, and it's hot...

S: Because she's been crying for 3 hours and its waking my baby up!

Me: Umm...well she wakes up but goes back to sleep...

S: Do you guys just leave her there alone?

Me: (Stunned) NO! We had a babysitter while we were gone (you batshitcrazy lady!)!

S: Well I just saw you leaving!

Me: I went to drive the babysitter home while my husband is inside rocking her back to sleep!

And the madness continued with no end in sight for another couple minutes. Then we all retreat to our corners...until the following Monday:

(abbrieviated)

S: So do you just let her cry until she falls asleep?

Me: Well, yes actually...but we go in and check on her, and usually it only takes 10 minutes. You know (because you have babies, right?!) she's still getting adjusted...

S: We leave tomorrow for 5 weeks; I hope that's enough time for her to get adjusted!

Um...WHAT? Was that an ultimatum?!?! This coming from the woman who screams at her kids all day. I don't go up there and start freaking out because the toddler's tantrums are imposing on my relaxing breakfast! Are you FREAKING kidding me?

Hopefully the 5 week vacay will be good for everyone. I'll let you know when the For Rent sign goes up, and then we can finally get some decent neighbors!