For your viewing pleasure, I give you GRETA CLAPPING:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsvulr0cSWw

(Sorry my voice is so loud in the video....I was right next to the phone speaker.)

Please note in the video, how there is NO ELBOW BENDING while clapping.  VERY precise.  VERY agile.  Much like a ninja, with awesome dance moves.

And we are back! 

This week has been crazy.....to sum it up, all of Greta's fellow gang members have been sick.  We are talking foot-hand-mouth, roseola, UTI, ear infections, rashes, etc.  NOT GOOD.  SO, this morning, Greta and Oliver were FINALLY reunited for the first time since last week!  Oh how they missed each other!  Poor Oliver has been Mr. Grumpy Pants, dealing with a high fever, and a nasty rash.  Thankfully, he was almost back to his old self---showcasing his sweet dance moves (pop, pop, lock, and drop), eating pieces of fruit, eating some of my muffin, and collecting random toys and placing them in even more random places.  He is celebrating the big 1 this weekend.  He doesn't know it yet, but Greta bought him a sweet sword to practice his pirate moves.  (It was either that, or chalk.  Swords are way cooler.)

Greta and I are heading to Fort Wayne today to hit up some garage sales.  She is excited to see both her Grammies!  Grammy Jan is driving down tomorrow afternoon.  LOTS of Grammy (and Poppy) time.

This is some of Greta's best work.....a crop circle surrounding her, meticulously placed items within her reach to investigate for further scientific evaluation.  Lately, she's been forming crop circles around her as she plays with her toys.  Her newest passion?  Tearing Kleenex, pulling clothes out of her drawers (especially shorts), screaming, and trying to bounce in her walker.  While she has a black belt in bouncing, walking is an area where she needs improvement.  She's going to have to see the physical therapist again to help with her crawling skills.  As I describe her movements, she has no transitional movements from floor to stand, and standing to sitting.  I'm a bit concerned, because it is as if she has no idea how to go from one to the other.  NOW, if she is upright, she can actually take a few steps on her own.  She has great balance.  I'm sure it is because of her amazing circly/rounded/deep/wide feet.  I will keep my readers posted when we begin the therapy.  We will not look at this a set back, but just another platform to entertain anyone that will pay attention to her, and possibly massage her appendages.

I should also mention that this photo is a great indicator of how circly/magical her fat hands our---very softies, very squishy, always smelling like syrup and sparkles (just like a unicorn).  OH, and because she loves eating crackers so much, they often smell like crackers.

I will not take credit for this photo.  It is the artistic work of Mande Miskewycz, mother to Cali and Wrigs, and soon to be mother of a human baby (in July).

Oh, and Greta now weighs 22.11 pounds (she has now surpassed Bean Bean).

Guess who has yet ANOTHER ear infection? Yep, GFP. No likey.

On a brighter note, she (and I) enjoyed a nice visit to Ellettsville Primary School to volunteer for Elisabeth's workshop. It was great fun and Greta really enjoyed herself.

Hopefully we'll get to see Uncle Ben and Special Friend Chrissy tomorrow----he will be driving back to Illinois and we hope to intercept him in Indy.

Happy Wednesday and GO WINGS!

And the poopies aren't cooperating, once again......

Round #2 of Poopies in the bathtub. I'm thankful Daddy was around to clean it up. Moreover, Greta felt "relaxed" enough to really take matters into her own hands..... by touching the poop. Awesome.

Oh....Greta has taken a few steps....on her own.....AND.....she has two tiny little teefers breaking through on the the top.......

I'm a horrible mom. It happened: Greta fell off the bed. I literally turned for 10 seconds, and BAM! Down she went. Yep. CPS will be paying me a visit, or at least they should. I feel horrible. She's crying, I'm crying. The dogs are barking. Not a good morning. Thankfully, she doesn't have any bumps or bleeding---I think her body hit first, then her arms and head. AND she was crying, but only for about 10 minutes. She wouldn't let me stop giving her "pats and rubs" on her heiny (which makes things better). I feel terrible. NOT a good Friday the 13th. NOT AT ALL.

Greta enjoying some time with her Poppy Jim.

Greta's new ball pit, compliments of an awesome garage sale. Uncle Ben was there to make it a bit more special, i.e., throwing balls into the air.

Greta's Easter present from Grammy Joan---a magic flower cart just for her (and any of her friends). She was VERY impressed.

Greta's "spanx." These diaper covers were handmade by one of Dave's friends, Jen. They say her name on the back, in case she runs away from you when she is being naughty.

Greta showcasing true fashion excellence: Open toe sandals with white hosiery. This look is making a comeback. It will be in Vogue next month, I'm sure of it.

And onto brighter and bigger things........................

My poopie dreams are finally coming true. Yep, we had a normal poop today. Yes ma'am. I'm thinking it is the amped up bottles I'm giving her at night (and by amped, I mean mixed with 2 tsp. of Miralax---nature's candy). I let her know that her poop was "on the money" and that she needed to keep "forging ahead." I know she knows what I'm talking about.

Poop:

A minor problem in our house lately. Greta is currently ingesting 2 tsp of Miralax once a day, prunes once a day, and sips prune/apple juice during the course of the day. The result? A crying baby who can't take a dump. While she isn't completely bound up, her little fanny is red, her poop is like 3 day old Playdoh, and she strains so much, she spits up. Yep, a problem.

Help.

On a brighter note, we just had a glorious dinner with our friends, Mackinzie and Oliver. Oliver, in typical boy fashion, loves to show off his white boy dance moves, while Greta prefers to "gator" on the ground. It is like The New Dance Show: Bloomington. Priceless.

Yep, our little Button is 10 months old! You can imagine how hard it was to snap this picture. She looks a mess--actually, like a boy. Daddy demanded she wear a "pretty" in her hair, for a feminine touch. She too is enjoying some sweat pants (just like her Momma).

A moment of solitude in the Lego pit at the Children's Museum.
She was about done when this photo was taken. We were on hour 3 at this point.

Greta and her bestie, Oliver, sitting in wonder, just how big the polar bear really is---I tried to get a nice frame with the bear in it to show the size of this thing. I need some more bears to look at in person to really understand the polar bear's actual size. Our next stop, the Field Museum in Chicago. We can get our research done there.

Greta enjoying the water table at the toddler play area at the Children's Museum---she is clenching on for dear life because the table was about 6 inches too tall for her. The sparklies in her hair? Water droplets from Oliver splashing her. Oliver was two seconds away from making his Baywatch call-back, sans Speedo.

Greta playing with some tissue paper. She enjoyed this activity for 20 minutes. Yep, tissue paper.

My garage sale finds from Fort Wayne this weekend. My mother-in-law, Joan, has a black belt in garage sale-ing---yep, she is able to stretch $50 into BRAND NEW treasures---baby gifts, tools, games, toys, furniture. Yep, you need it? She can find it---in mint condition. I am hoping to convince her to write a tell-all book on the ins and outs of successful garage sale shopping. She knows the neighborhoods, whether the sale will be worth her time, and the treasures one is most likely to find at certain sales. Joan, Chrissy (Ben, my brother in law, his new girlfriend), and myself hit up an amazing garage sale and we found all of these brand new baby boy clothes for my sister. In total: 9 washcloths, 8 bibs, 12 onesies, 9 pairs of pants, 6 blankets, 1 pair of overalls, 1 pair of slippers, 1 swaddle blanket, and a new floor gym. Yep, jackpot.

More time at the Children's Museum---she loved these flowers, much like the ones on her mobile.

Greta in her magical Easter dress. It is vintage: I wore this dress when I was her age, which was handcrafted by Grammy Jan.

Another garage sale treasure---a tunnel (and new sun hat). Chrissy was very nice to show Greta the ropes.

Clearly, the last week has been super busy. A trip to Fort Wayne, playgroups, a trip to the Children's Museum, lots of time outside....very busy. Sorry for the delayed post.

It's official: Greta pooped in the bathtub today. Another first. Thankfully, they were small rabbit pellets. Not a huge turd. The bath was a means to make the poopies come....let the pooping commence.

(Now I'm bleaching the tub.)

Waiting for Grammy Joan and Poppy Jim to arrive with her new playscape.

Notice the NEW fashion sandals? Yep, size 4, EXTRA wide. AND they have sparkly pretties on them (flowers). This snapshot was taken around 10:30 am yesterday, I woke her up to take her into Big Lots. She was miffed for a while, then we went down the craft aisle. A spool of ribbon brightened her spirits.

We had a wonderful visit last night from Oliver's family (Dad Corey and Momma Mackinzie) for some sausage noodle casserole. Oliver was exited to play with the dog's water dish, and Greta was more interested in showing him how her laboratory works.

Grammy Joan and Poppy Jim are coming over today for some Ohana time. We look forward to seeing them, and possibly using Grammy Joan's awesome camera for some more pictures.