Penny seems much better today, thanks for asking. Yesterday she was much less tired (and in fact insisted on very short naps of an hour or less each), though still kind of cranky and in need of sleep...

But the fact that she had enough energy to be cranky was a good sign, really, even if it was Very Frustrating for poor Matt, who had to deal with the brunt of it. I escaped by distracting her with a Trip.

Specifically, I took her over to the outlet mall, because I wanted to check out the toy store where Matt got his Captain Nemo. She was so happy to be out of the house, I think, that she didn't seem to care what we were doing, as long as I kept pushing the stroller.

So while we were there, I ducked into a children's clothing outlet, and bought her a very adorable little Christmas dress, marked down to $7 from $25 - it's even a generic-enough design that she'll be able to wear it for the rest of the winter. I must remember to go back to that place after the holidays to round out her winter wardrobe.

And I went into the Paper Factory, to pick up a roll of packing tape so we could pack and ship various gifts. While we were in there, Penny went crazy over the decorative balloons, and the very nice saleslady gave her one of them, which made Penny even happier.

Then, I found the toy store. But before I could go in, I had to stand out front for a while, pondering the merits of this sign:

If I hadn't told you it was a toy store, what would you guess? Isn't it nice to know that, even in a straightlaced town like Williamsburg, you can get 40% off Male Action? Not to mention 30% off Science!

As Penny and I were leaving, I noticed that her balloon had come untied from the stroller - it's a good thing she'd held onto it so tightly. But she refused to relinquish it so I could get her into the carseat. I wound up just letting her keep it and doubling the ribbon over to get her arm through the straps.

Of course, by the time we got home, she'd fidgeted with the ribbon again, so I really had to pry her fingers open to get her out of the car. As soon as I got her out of the seat, she snatched the ribbon again and looked at me suspiciously.

All the excitement made her tired, though. I put a movie in the DVD player, and she fell asleep on my lap. And I still had to pry her hand open to free the balloon before I took her up to her crib.

Today, since Matt and I both really need to be at work, my mom came up to babysit. When I left the house, Penny ran to the window to watch me go. It was hard to turn my back on that little face. If she'd started crying, I don't know if I could've done it. (It's a good thing Matt drops her off at daycare each day.) It helped that she'd snuggled into my mom's shoulder when Mom picked her up earlier; I knew she wasn't going to completely reject Mom as her caretaker.

Still, I'm always a little nervous, leaving my mom to babysit. Penny can be quite a handful, and Mom's got arthritis. Also, the Mutant Worrybrain was in overdrive last night, so there's some residual nonsense-worry from that.

Ah, well. Such is life. Penny should be more or less fully recovered by the time the weekend is over, and hopefully she'll remain healthy through the holidays. (Keep your fingers crossed for us.)

Today is my last day of work until after Christmas; I'm taking all of next week off. I probably won't write here, but I might post occasionally to the blog. But do not despair! I'll be back on the 27th, no doubt with many delightful pictures and anecdotes!

Merry Chrishannakwanzica, everyone!

--Liz