Well, we survived the weekend!

Saturday morning, we went over to the Brandts' so Penny could play with Emma. We ended up staying until nearly 2 -- Penny had lunch with Emma (well, Penny had lunch, and Emma ate two bites and wandered off again) and then Braz and Kris took all the kids for a walk down to the duck pond so I could go do some shopping.

Braz took a bunch of pictures with his camera/phone/PDA/doohickey, and emailed them to Matt, which I'm sure Matt appreciated.

When they got back from the walk, I was already back from shopping. "We need to go home now," I told Penny. Emma leaned on my elbow and looked up at me with big, horrified eyes, and said, "But she hasn't even had her treat yet!"

So we stayed a little bit longer so Penny and Emma could have a few cookies and some milk.

As of this morning, Penny is still asking if she can go back to see the ducks.

Sunday afternoon, we went to visit my parents. They let Penny watch Lion King while I tried to get some scrapbooking done. I actually got most of the way through a two-page spread before I ran out of adhesive. But it was fun; Mom hovered over me the whole time, marvelling at the entire process.

The disturbing bit was that I started singing along with my favorite song in the movie ("Be Prepared" -- I always like the bad-guy songs) and then I couldn't stop. I lip-synched the entire rest of the movie, while I was doing my scrapbooking. I didn't look up at the screen at all, but I couldn't stop reciting the lines and singing the damned songs.

I think I've seen it enough, now.

At dinner last night, Penny looked up from her yogurt and hard-boiled egg, pointed at my plate, and said, "Try it?"

"You want to try one of Mommy's meatballs?"

"Yeah."

She ate two meatballs in short order, and probably would've eaten a third if I'd had one left to give her. Then she pointed at my plate again. "Try it?"

"You want to try some cauliflower?"

"Yeah."

Mind you, I'd already offered her some cauliflower, and been vehemently rebuffed. But I'll take what I can get. I gave her a small piece. And then a bigger one. And then a really big piece that she ate only half of.

I was so proud of her for trying new things and eating both meat and vegetables that I let her have some chocolate ice cream for dessert. I hope this is a lesson she will take to heart.

This morning she had a doctor's appointment, so the doctor could confirm that she's having an excema flare-up and give me some ointment to put on her legs. And I have a dentist appointment this afternoon, so I'll be leaving early. Whoo, spendin' that leave time!

At least Penny wasn't clingy when I got her to school -- they were doing "circle time," and Penny only gave me the briefest of cursory kisses before running over to show off the stickers the doctor gave her.

She's still being pretty good, and was in a great mood this morning. Though just lately she doesn't want to leave the house when I need for us to go. Even if she wants to actually go somewhere, she doesn't want to put on her shoes and coat. It's pretty frustrating, but I try to remind myself that she's just doing that typical two-year-old "establishment of boundaries." I guess she feels the need to re-establish them, with Matt gone.

On the plus side, I have learned that the "count to three" trick works pretty well on her. She usually starts scrambling as soon as I say "One." I wonder where she learned it; they don't really do much in the way of discipline at school. And I've never gotten past "two," so I don't even know that she knows there are consequences for getting to three.

Whatever works, right?

--Liz