BBJ, New Jackets, Pincer Grasps and Rain!

BBJ got a new coat for her birthday...well, a jacket really. This jacket inspires me...to take her out in the rain apparently. (It only inspires jealousy in certain aunts, but we won't go into that.)
We had quite a day today, and I am honestly grateful that it went as well as it did.

Wednesdays start off with a piano/voice lesson for a young girl, before she heads off into the mad world of high school. (Why does 8 am seem to come so early now that I have a baby? Where did the morning go?! And why can I be up and perky by 8 am on any day BESIDES the day I am obligated by a check to be??! It's a conspiracy, I tell you!) Anyhow, lesson came, lesson went just fine. BBJ played happily with my student's mother, which always makes my mornings easier.

Before the lesson ended, Cousin E showed up to play for a few hours while her mommy did important Relief Society President Stuff. (I'm seriously considering crowning myself Master Muckety and dropping my kids off at random relations' houses while I go out and drink smoothies. Of course, that isn't what my sister does - she really does have important things to do. Why can't we have free time AND lack of responsibility, eh?)

Cousin E was, by all definitions, an angel while she was here. After my student left, Cousin E calmly asked for a movie, curled up on the couch with a baby blanket, and watched the movie. BBJ, on the other hand, grew more determined to destroy the calm by the minute. She insisted on racing up to Cousin E, standing up next to the couch and simply pounding on the part of the couch covered by the blanket. Mommy, I'm not touching Cousin E! I'm just whacking the hooey out of this couch that has this weird blanket on it! Oh, is that Cousin E? Hi, Cousin E! Didn't see you there!! After repeated attempts to distract BBJ, and her protests and wails getting louder and closer together, I decided it was time for BBJ to take a time out in her crib.

Imagine my surprise when, 7 minutes later, the crying stopped and she fell asleep! My angel baby woke up about 5 minutes before my 12:30 lesson arrived, Cousin E left shortly thereafter, and that was the end of my morning.

After my 12:30 student left, BBJ and I sat down to the serious task of feeding this child. Her pediatrician recommended that I just pile food on her plate and let her feed herself - she'll stop when she's full. So, a scoop of rice and beans went down first. Then half a hard boiled egg. Then a few pretzel sticks. A piece of banana. A glass of water rounded out the meal. She ate and ate and ate...she ate just about everything! She didn't quite know what to do with the egg white, but I never did find the egg yolk, so she must have downed that! As she was slowing down, I helped myself to a piece of chocolate cake. Well, BBJ asked so nicely, and she had eaten so much of her lunch...I gave her a piece. She's always so much happier after a spot of chocolate!
I love this bib from Ikea!(BBJ is getting so good at her pincer grasp!)


By the time she finished her lunch, it was time for my 2:30 lesson! That lesson always goes well. With that out of the way, and a few hours to kill, we called Auntie M and proposed a jaunt over to our nearby China-mart.

The walk over went smoothly...until Auntie M announced that she was a bit peckish. There is a little deli associated with our China-mart. A delicious little deli that sells delicious little things. Next thing you know, Auntie M is settling down with a steamed bun as big as BBJ's head.

Now, there's something you should know about this bun. It had a delicious mixture of bbq pork, chinese sausage, onions and a hard boiled egg. You should also know that I learned to speak Cantonese, a dialect of Chinese, a few years ago. I love going into shops and surprising the clerks with my flawless Chinese. I love to flaunt how fluent I am. I'm just that good. So, this afternoon, when the gentleman selling the bun told me it had Chinese Sausage in it, I calmly asked him laahp juk? He just looked at me. I assumed that my pronunciation was a bit off, and continued talking to the man in Chinese, basking in his praise. When I called my mother in law this evening, and told her about the delicious laahp juk bun she laughed and laughed and laughed. I had very primly told the proprietor of that deli that his buns were made of candle wax. Aah, the bigger the pride, the harder we fall, right?

When we finally left the China-mart, little snacks in hand, we found it to be POURING rain. As soon as it subsided, we made the mad dash home.
(Girls don't sweat, they glisten, right?)

Aren't Wednesdays the best?


Oh, and just in case you haven't seen enough of BBJ, I thought you'd enjoy a video of my favorite game to play with her. It's called Get BBJ to chase you, then hide and scare the pejeebies out of her. It's fantastic. You should try it.