Sunday, January 31, 2010

Watch out world, here comes Mimi Darby!

"M" stands for MADNESS at the Darby household!!
Mimi is a year-and-a-half old, and, oh my goodness, no one bothered warning us what that meant. She is go, go, go nonstop from the second she wakes up until she goes back to sleep at night (other than to snuggle on the couch with me for a few minutes every now and then). I look back on the first year of her life and had no idea how easy we had it. She was so calm and patient, but now she yells, "No!" and throws her food. If she has something she shouldn't, she makes sure I see her being bad and then runs away laughing! When she does get in trouble, she is so dramatic and has a horrible cry that would break anyone's heart. She tries so hard to run away from us when we are in public places, and she even made a three-year-old little girl cry today at Davis Kidd because she wouldn't share her Thomas trains! Yikes . . .

. . . but as Katharine Hepburn once said, "If you obey all the rules you miss all the fun," and Miss Mimi never misses fun. She does everything to the extreme -- dancing, talking loud, eating everything in sight (we recently learned she steals food at preschool). She counts everything now to ten and claps excitedly when she finishes. She yells out "HEY!" to complete strangers and always brings a smile to their faces. She is obsessed with her Little People farm and loves to stack all her animals on top while she yells out the sounds they make. Mimi can find a way to make anything fun and silly like putting a toy cup on her head and shaking until it falls off or jumping on her head in her crib. Discipline is something we're trying to work out but I pray that she keeps this independence and passion for the rest of her life. Not that it will be easy for us . .
Channeling all this crazy energy in the winter has been difficult, so we recently went to the Children's Museum and let her run wild. She made a bracelet, colored a picture, went grocery shopping, and almost beat some little girls with a drum stick (oops), but her favorite part was the boats. She got completely drenched and could have stayed there all day . . . but of course we had to pull her away screaming.
A couple of weeks ago we had some nice days, so Mimi and I were able to go to the park after work. She can finally go up and down the slide by herself, and loves to go down on her belly!
Our adorable nephew J.R. recently turned 3 years old, and I loved seeing how excited he was about his presents and cupcakes. He is always so sweet to Mimi, but he can't seem to understand why she wants to eat all his crayons and take all his toys. He'll soon learn that she is someone he can boss around, but right now she still seems to think she's in charge.
For the longest time, Mimi has been the youngest grandchild and the youngest out of all her friends (and even in her preschool class), but that is no longer the case. Kyle has Banks, Jordan just had Georgie Grace, and Amery is due in April. One of my dearest friends from Corinth has a 4-month-old sweetie named Kendal, and Mimi got to meet her over Christmas. She liked to point to her and say "Baby" and rub the back of her head, but she then let us know that she deserved all the attention by performing all her tricks.
And I guess she is really going to have to get used to the idea because she is going to be a
big sister in August!!!
We are so excited about the new addition to the Darby family, and we will definitely keep the blog updated throughout my pregnancy. Right now I am extremely tired, a little nauseous, and, well, a little "moody" to put it lightly (I'm sure Clint would call it something else, poor thing!). I can't wait to find out the gender of the little one and get to work on Mimi's big girl room.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Iguanas DO freeze and fall out of trees in Miami . . .

What comes to mind when you think Southbeach? Hot weather, beautiful beaches, skimpy clothing . . . or sweaters and heavy coats?


A few weeks ago, Clint and I went to Miami to meet our friends Ivan and Carla (FYI -he was the crazy Spanish guy that fell into the band at our wedding). They flew in to visit family friends in Coral Gables, and we couldn't possibly not visit while they were in America. I was so looking forward to pulling out some summer clothes and even dabbled with the idea of getting a spray tan, until the forecast began doing crazy things. On the other hand, it was so nice to get away for few days and not have to think about work or cleaning the house. We stayed in an adorable boutique hotel in Southbeach and could walk to great restaurants and clothing stores.

These photos were from the warmest day (about 60 degrees). Boots on the beach? Really?


We were outside a bar in Coral Gables . . . Fah-reezing.

While I was waiting at my terminal in the airport, I saw a story about iguanas and other lizards in south Florida that were actually falling out of trees because of the low temps. Once the temp drops below 40 degrees their bodies go into a hibernation mode, and they stiffen and turn really cold. Don't worry -- as soon as it warms up they come back to life. The family Ivan and Carla were staying with had a few "Cuban Lizards" hanging out in the garage "defrosting."

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

So much to blog about . . .

I have been chastened by my other momma Ann about my lack of blogging, and I have no excuses now since I am stuck in a hotel in Paducah, KY, with no 18-month-old needing attention or husband needing me to help him pick out the perfect belt on-line (sorry, Honey).

So much has happened since the last blog, so I'll start at the beginning with the funnest (yes, I did write "funnest") Christmas ever! First of all, we had to teach Mimi the whole concept of Santa Claus and presents, and she seemed to take it all very well. She loved to yell "HEY" in Jingle Bells and say "HO HO HO" in a deep voice. Most importantly it was fun to teach her about baby Jesus and the manger. I think the idea was a stretch for her 18-month-old brain, but she seemed to like pointing out the baby, the star, and all the animals in her books.

Traditionally we go to Clint's parents' house on Christmas Eve to eat and open presents. Mimi got some great presents and had a fantastic time with her cousins Olivia and JR.

Christmas morning was the most fun when Mimi realized she got even more presents. Her mouth dropped open when she spotted her blocks and baby dolls, and she couldn't believe that she still had more to open (surprisingly she was very patient with daddy opening her boxes).


Next we were off to my sister Amy's house in Nashville for more family togetherness. Mimi has started to love giving group hugs (especially to her Poppaw and Bebe).

She loves to hop on my dad's stomach, and he doesn't seem to mind!

The highlight of her present-opening was her gi-normous kitchen! It now sits in the middle of our den and is the first thing she runs to every morning . . . and the last thing we have to pull her away from screaming when it is time for bed!
And there is so much more, but American Idol is on so I have to take a break. Just a little teaser for later . . . I have a surprise!