last baby standing

what you see featured in the above photo is this:

me: smile for the camera!
v: no.
me: just one smile?
v: no.
me: would you like 50% more cash?
v: no.
me: but it's more money!

i can't imagine where this camera resistance is coming from.



the big news is that today is violet's first full day in the toddler room. she's officially moved from koalas to dolphins. she remains obsessed with her thug-in-crime colton, who just transitioned three weeks ago, and i caught a lucky break this morning when a seat was open next to him at the breakfast table. "coco!" violet shouted before running a lap around the room and then climbing into the available chair. she's still a little small for the sized-up toddler seats. she did urge me down next to her, and i hung out for about ten minutes (and a strawberry) before giving her a quick kiss and escaping without any tears (from either of us). hooray!

even though it means she's growing up (fast), kevin and i are both pretty excited about the toddler room because she's really ready for it. there are so many more planned activities, and it's apparent that violet is intensely interested in all of this new stuff. look at her, sitting up straight and paying attention like such a big girl.



last week's big news was that both infant rooms experienced an outbreak of hand, foot and mouth disease, which is not, as several of my hamburger-consuming coworkers have asked, the same thing that cows get. the notice went up on tuesday, but i didn't think much of it. there's some virus on the loose practically every week at daycare. when i checked her in on wednesday, however, it was impossible not to notice that less than half of the babies were there, and when we arrived on thursday, there were only three babies left! violet's primary teacher gave her the full body scan and agreed with me that the pinprick blemishes around her mouth were just her usual irritation, but about ten minutes after i sat down at my desk, the phone rang. the center director was sending her home, at least until a doctor's note stated that the bumps weren't HFM. feeling a little defiant (because i could tell violet was healthy, no fever, good spirits), i was able to score a 10am appointment with the ped. i didn't think any doctor would write a note explicitly stating that a kid did not have a specific virus, and while the ped (her usual ped's partner) obviously couldn't say she wasn't going to come down with symptoms, he did say if he was a betting man, he'd bet she didn't have it -- and he agreed that the bumps were most certainly not it. about an hour later, i returned to the baby room with a note that said "dx: dermititis. violet is cleared to return to school." we walked in to find all of the teachers basically sitting around. the last two babies had been sent home with fevers. of the 24 babies, violet was the last one standing. as kevin said, she won the hunger games of the baby room.

(and the jinx is in.)

this past weekend, we were in san diego for our dear friend leigh's gorgeous wedding, and saturday night was the first in over 18 months that i haven't put violet to bed. the seven hours was also the longest that kevin and i have spent together away from her (aside from every workday of course), but with nana, poppy and auntie courtney to play with, violet had a full dance card. reportedly, bedtime was extremely cute. my mom and sister cuddled in the big bed with her and turned on toy story. violet, who has yet to really watch TV much less a movie, was enthralled. my sister used the opportunity to sneak away and grab the sprinkles cupcake that i'd brought down for her, and when she reappeared in bed, violet of course took note. as courtney started eating, violet looked back and forth from TV to cupcake, TV to cupcake, and finally inched over to courtney, who asked if she wanted a bite. violet nodded emphatically. after feeding her a couple of bites, courtney gently reclined violet onto a pillow. toddler belly poking out of her pjs, queen violet ate a few more crumbs before her eyes started to glaze. nana popped in the paci, and violet drifted off.

of course the more things change...