Boy do I love being a mommy!

So, Elspeth learned how to flush today while I was plucking my eyebrows. First time was an accident -- then she looked at me, looked at the toilet, and did it again. Smart little cookie. I took pictures. Wasted a lot of water, but boy did we have fun!

On another note, our dentist takes my new insurance YAY~! I was worried I would have to find somebody new, and between that and finding a doctor for Elspeth, it would have been too much. Especially given I'm already due for a dental check (past due actually), and Elspeth needs a well baby check in about two weeks. Still have to find a pediatrician tho, bleck.

American culture is suicidal!

I found this one today and it made me laugh...I mean, seriously, it's almost becoming a crime to be a white Christian anymore, we're so full of self loathing! Seriously though, I shouldn't be surprised...the worst thing to be if you're trying to get scholarships, into school, or a job is a white male. Lowers your chances of getting accepted for almost anything these days, which leads me to another amusing thing: apparently women are a minority, despite constituting 51% of the population. And you know us minorities, we're just not smart or tough enough to get anything without all those federally required hiring and admissions quotas. Sheesh, it's embarrassing.

In other news (and off the soapbox), Elspeth STILL HAS NO TEETH! I swear, I can see them under there, they're just not out yet...this baby has gums of steel! Altho in all honesty, she might have one and I just don't know it, as she won't let me stick my finger in to feel for them. I've spent too much time fishing carpet fluff out of there I suppose.

Mosquitos suck

So yeah, we have a mosquito problem. Like in our house. Of course, we don't want to just use DEET around Elspeth, so we're investigating alternative strategies. Namely, we got these little white things that plug into the electric outlets and make a very faint humming noise. Apparently they make some ultrasonic noise that mosquitos (and spiders, and mice, apparently) can't stand. So far they seem to be working...we've only found two this evening, and they were rather sluggish (one was crawling around on the kitchen floor) when previous evenings we find like four, and they still buzz around our ears all night. This has made Mark cutely paranoid about Elspeth and West Nile virus. Here's to hoping these things work...apparently catnip oil repels mosquitos better than DEET even, but I'm not sure how we would use that.

Cannery!

So, we got to go to the cannery in Lindon yesterday, and it was very much fun. We bought some stuff, and canned potatoe pearls, rice, and pinto beans. It was even a bit of a workout...reapeated lifting of five pound cans is really tiring!

Megan and Ashley watched Elspeth meanwhile, I'm so proud of her she was such a good girl! This is even the first time someone non-family has babysat her too, and only the second time someone non-Mark has taken care of her without me there. I was afraid she would scream the whole time! She even had a bottle for them and took a (short) nap, I'm amazed. They did give her cheerios whenever she wanted, and there was all kinds of new stuff for her to explore though...so I suppose it's a good thing we took her there instead of Ashley coming here. Though, we're discovering that it's a very good thing I found a way to work from home...I was nervous about leaving her for two hours, I would have a nervous breakdown if I had to leave her in daycare all day long! She's MY sweet baby. =D

I need to whine about our neighbor's dog.

It is the ugliest, barkingest dog I have ever seen! It's a fair sized dog too. It used to be they'd tie it up to the porch, and it would come charging out whenever anybody walked by -- which we have to do to get in our front door -- barking and growling, and generally acting like he'd bite you if it weren't for that skinny little rope. Our mailman is scared of him even, and you'd think mailmen would be at least a little jaded! Anyway, now they've started tieing him up in the back yard -- better from the point of view of him trying to attack mailmen and small children. The problem is now he barks INCESSANTLY. All day yesterday, until like four in the morning, then for three or four hours today. Constant. Barking. We've been thinking about calling animal control to make a complaint for awhile now (we can't get ahold of the owners ourselves because a) they're almost never home and b) we're terrified of their dog), but this was just it. The officer says he can come talk to them, or leave a "door hanger" that says they have to go talk to him. Freaking dog. Maybe they'll finally do something about it, but I'm trying not to get too hopeful...personally, I hope they move!

Howard's book

I finally finished reading the new Schlock Mercenary book. All of it, not just the new stuff. It is GREAT. If any of y'all want one, you should go to the Schlock site. There's new shiney there every day anyway. Yay for comics!

Birthdays!

Mark's birthday was on Saturday, and we had loads of fun even though I feel guilty because I haven't gotten him a present yet (the video game check still hasn't arrived and I have no money until it does). We went swimming at the pool for Mike Hurd's apartment Friday, and played Settlers of Catan. Saturday we went to ARMA, and had dinner at Bombay House. The host (who I think might be the owner) always remembers us, he made sure we got the cooshy chairs and Mark got free mango ice cream. I'm allergic to mangos so I could only have a tiny bit, but it was really good. We went to Megan and Stew's place and played Munchkin with them and Maryanne and Seth, and had birthday pie (peanut butter cup, Mark's favorite). Elspeth was very cute, she chased Megan's cats around. So all in all, a most excellent weekend.

In other news, Elspeth falls down a lot! She crawls like crazy, and can pull her self up on things and tries to walk around them, but she can't quite get back down again so she just sort of falls. She's getting better at falling on her bottom instead of her head, but still. She also likes to push the laundry basket around. She is full of trouble! Fortunately Mark went on a cleaning kick yesterday, so there's less dangerous stuff for her to get into...although she always seems to find more, even when we thought there was none!

Should be more pictures soonish, as I just now realized I have a whole roll of film developed that I haven't scanned yet, and the roll in the camera is almost all the way full. Maybe I'll make Mark set up the scanner here for me, as he insists we have one, but I've never actually seen it.