Our Obsessions

It all started when Miss Jackie gave Mimi If You Give a Mouse a Cookie in her Valentine goodie bag at school. She and I were reading it a few days ago, and when we got to the page where the mouse has giant crayons and paper she freaked out.
"Color! Color! COLOR!!"
"That's right, Mimi. The mouse is coloring."
And then she started trying to scratch the crayons off the paper with her little fingers.
"COOLLEERR!!" she sobbed. "COOLLEERR!!!!!"
Oh my goodness. I had to think quick. Where had I hidden her crayons? I pulled them out a couple of weeks ago and learned she had quite the appetite for them, so I yanked them out of her mouth and put them away. Ah, the junk drawer. Of course.
"CO-OO--OO--LERS!!! Wah ah aha ah wah!!"
Crayons and construction paper were promptly placed in front of Miss Drama Queen, and the house grew eerily quiet. I stood ready to pull purple chunks of crayon out of her mouth if necessary, but after a few minutes I realized I wouldn't have that problem. She put blue in her right hand, red in her left, and ever so carefully began her masterpiece of random lines. Then on to the purple and brown. Wait, maybe the blue again. Oh, just to see the artist come out.
So this is Mimi's new obsession. If she hears Nate Berkus on Oprah talking about "COLOR," I have to be ready to have the Big Bird coloring book and 8 pack of fat Crayolas ready. It is fabulous to have something to actually keep her busy in restaurants now!
So Mimi's obsession is coloring, and mine is, well, her. Or her new hairstyle rather. Yesterday she woke up with some serious bedhead after naptime, and I thought why not pigtails? Oh. My. Goodness. She is such a big girl now. I took about 15 pictures of her on my phone, and I have looked at them at least 75 times today. I showed them to all of my nurses, ". . . and here she is with pigtails coloring, and here she is watching Sesame Street, and here she is with pigtails standing on her head."
Have I lost it yet?

SNOW DAY!!

We woke up to a fluffy, white wonderland on Monday morning -- what a nice surprise! As soon as we had breakfast, we bundled up Mimi like Ralphie's little brother and headed outdoors to teach her how to throw snowballs. Some of our neighbors had their adorable black puppies out for a walk, and they were so fun in the snow.
We attempted to make a snowman, and Mimi tried her best to help. The fact is that I'm from Mississippi, and building snowmen is not what we're known for . . . so his head fell off by the end of the day.Clint thinks it's so funny to let Miss Mimi run around completely naked after her bath every night. I was standing in the kitchen last night and saw a flash of a little pink thing fly by the door. Once we wrestled her into a diaper (and Clint put on her pink house shoes!), she decided she wanted to dance in the kitchen. She kept making the music play on her Fridge Farm and had some silly dances to go with it. Even Ruthie got in on the action! Clint has been teaching her how to twirl!!

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.

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."

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!

Gobble, Gobble and Ho Ho Ho

This is exactly what Thanksgiving is all about . . . a baby in a diaper and cowboy boots . . .
Okay, maybe not. I'm ashamed to say that I didn't get too many photos at Thanksgiving this year, but it was one of the best I've ever had. Food, family, and fun (and not working for 4 days!!) was what it was all about this year. Below is a photo (not a very good one) of my uncoordinated family trying to play football in the yard. Mimi kept stealing the balls, so she had a blast. We found the best arm in the family belongs to my neice Luckett (the little one in the photo below) who definitely does not throw like a girl. She, Jean-Nicolette, and Anderson were able to go to Zoo Lights with us while they were in town for Thanksgiving.
The Darby family Thanksgiving was also wonderful, and Mimi loved playing with Olivia and JR. Here Mimi and JR are in a tight race for the loudest gobbler (or "Bobble Bobble" as Mimi likes to say).

And here is our excuse for not raking the backyard . . . Mimi LOVES playing in the leaves. It's been a little too cold to play recently, but a few weeks ago she and I spent over an hour piling up leaves just so we could jump in them.

This is the year when we really need to think about what traditions we want to have for Christmas. How many Santa gifts should she have? Do we let her open one gift on Christmas Eve? When do we read the Christmas story? Do we have special food? Oh, the decisions. Although I know she won't remember any of this, it's still a lot of fun to see her notice the lights and decorations for the first time.

Clint and I decided to buy a real tree this year for the first time, and we love it. Mimi woke up one morning to the tree having decorations and lights, and she was so excited.

My mother gave Mimi an early Christmas present -- A MOP!! Ha ha! Mimi is OBSESSED with mops and brooms. I have no idea why because she rarely sees me use one! When we got home from church today she ran straight to the mop and started on the floors. It's about time she started pulling her weight around here!!

Our child is a parrot

It's time once again for a "Guess what my child can do!" post where I bring myself up to date on all the new, exciting things Miss Mimi has learned to do. These are very important to me because I never remember to pull out the baby book, and all this is happening so quickly that I can't keep track. So, here we go:
1. Clint has taught Mimi to say "Poo Poo."
Why, yes, I am very proud. While Roulhac's Preschool is doing a fantastic job of teaching her music, art, and her alphabet, Clint is teaching her about her body. Faaan . . .tastic.
2. She is repeating so many fun words. These are just a few of her new favorites:
Doctor, Purple, Green, Blue, Up, Down, Cracker, Hooray, Please, Thank You. She will repeat many words now even though I know no one can understand them but Clint and me.
3. She is learning some animal sounds and woke up one morning ROARING in her crib!
4. She finishes some lines of songs: "EIEIO" in Old McDonald; "Up above the world" in Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star; "Now I Know" in ABC's.
5. She yells out random letters with more enthusiasm than necessary when we pass a sign with big words "A! B! G! E! P! ME! BAY!" Okay, I know some of those aren't letters but she's trying. Occassionally she will fill in the letters when I pause during singing the alphabet. The best is when I get to "W X" and she finishes with "Y Z"
6. She has added even more dance moves. The best ones come out when she hears the theme
song to Curious George! She shakes her booty left and right while also swinging her arms up and down simultaneously.
7. Whenever we pass a mirror she smiles at herself and yells, "HI!" Then she sticks her fingers in her cheeks and tilts her head side to side like she does when she sings "Your face will surely show it"
8. She repeats family members' names when I point to them in pictures. My favorites are "Bop" (Clint's dad is Top), "Bamy" (this is my sister Amy), and "Livvie" (our neice Olivia)


Also, we went to the doctor last week for her 15th month check-up and she is no longer in the 5th percentile -- Little Bit is now in the 25th for height and 50th for weight!! This is GREAT for my baby who only weighed 5 1/2 pounds when she was born! . . . but it sounds like she's too short for her weight . . .


Here she is with her cousins Lainee-Luckett and Anderson in the Grove. They had a blast playing in the leaves and letting Mimi steal their football occassionally.

Mimi was yelling out plays to them . . . or at least that's what it sounded like. She may have been yelling out her alphabet . . .

And I'm seriously considering getting a leash for my child. This is how she stood during the sea lion show the last time we were at the zoo because she wanted to steal another child's toys. Then we spent the rest of the time chasing her . . . she's fast and I'm slow and out of shape!!