Another week

Well, I had hoped that at some point I would find time to blog more than once per week.  But alas, that, like so many of my well-intentioned plans, has been slapped in the face with reality.

So, this week was a good one.  Auburn beat LSU yesterday! (And yes, Ben, I hear you about leaving a game at half-time -- we will work up to a full game.  In fact, I think if I just take some acceptable food, we will be able to manage it.)  I saw the Dalai Lama on Tuesday in a conversation about creativity with Alice Walker and Richard Gere.  That was incredibly inspiring.  And today I'm going to hear Margaret Atwood give a lecture with some great friends from Alabama.  Not a bad week.

In addition, Zi did not get any biting "write-ups" at school this week.  She is still trying to have tantrums when she doesn't get things the way she wants them, but I suspect that those will go on for at least 15 more years.  :)  You can just see her strong will in this picture:

We had an official playdate yesterday with a long-time friend and her daughter.  I learned quickly that I am a pretty strict parent.  And in fact, that made me pretty happy.  I am determined to raise a child that will not annoy me when she is old enough to be my friend.  It seems like a worthy payoff: twenty years of rules for forty years of actually liking her.  I hope that I'm right.  :)

Two new things

On Friday night, Zi had her first babysitter.  Now, this isn't a shock to her at all since she is in daycare 5 days a week.  But it was a bit of a shock for us.  We had dinner, peacefully, at a restaurant!  What a pleasure.  In the attempt to keep our marriage at the center of the family (instead of the kiddos), we have decided that Zi is attached enough now to have a babysitter a few times each month so that we can have some quality time together.  (Read an article this week given to me by my therapist that supports this and my views of parenting.  Here it is:  http://www.rosemond.com/9109.html)

Then yesterday, we took Zi to her first Auburn game.  That's right, we took a 15 month old baby to Jordan-Hare stadium and were surprised to find that the noise and craziness did not bother her at all.  We did choose to leave at halftime (yes, and missed the best part of the game -- War Damn Eagle) because we were nearing her dinner time and just could not bring ourselves to feed her a stadium hot dog.  :)

So, overall, it has been a good week for the Perry-Lee family.

Busy, but good.

We have been working on Zi about her tantrums and biting (yes, she is a toddler now), and slowly, she's getting the message.

Learning the spoon:

And this is today:

Fall is here

So, the crazy weather turned from 90 to 60 degrees overnight, and I was caught without many fall clothes for Zi that fit her.  I had thought that she would be in 18 month clothes when the weather got cooler, but, even though she is 15 months old (on Tuesday), she is still wearing 12 month clothing (and you'll see, below, that they are not even close to being tight).  So I made a mad dash to the outlet mall and bought her a fall wardrobe in 12 month sizes.  Here is one of the outfits.  Also, notice that the photos are taken outside.  While it may sound like I'm complaining about the weather change, I am really excited.  It means we can spend time OUTDOORS!  Yay!

You will also notice that there are no smiles in these pictures.  She's got another tooth coming in, and smiles are now reserved for only tickles, swings, and bananas.  I'll be glad when the smiles return.

And I love this photo.  Here are my two caged/fenced in girls: