teamwork

Over the last month or so, Teags has become more and more confident climbing stairs and going down slides at the park. This makes me a little nervous because the play equipment at our park is really made for 5-12 year-olds... apparently, our little one knows no fear and refuses to be defined by chronological age. (Except when it comes to the huge FUN SLIDE at the fair.)

It's been fun watching Sean work with Teagan to learn how to use her little limbs to accomplish what she wants to do. I'm so thankful that Sean enjoys spending time and exploring with her; it makes my time alone at the park with Teags pretty easy because she already knows what to do! Here are some of my favorite pics of the team in action!

county fair, take two

We made our way back to the Arlington County Fair this year. It was great because Teagan is actually old enough and tall enough to enjoy some of the fair's offerings. Case in point, the super-tall, super-fast, FUN SLIDE ride in the video below. (Please ignore my crazy-high, baby-talking voice.)

Okay, okay, so she was (just a little) terrified once she and Sean made it to the bottom, but there's always next year, right? Here are a few more pics from our lovely fair adventure:

Happy end of summer, everyone!

cartoons and coffee

A couple of weekends ago, Sean discovered that there is an Angelika Film Center about 10 miles from our place in Arlington. We used to love going to see movies at this theater chain in Dallas, so we were excited to visit this location on a recent b-day date night. While we were there, we learned that they have been hosting a "Cartoons and Coffee" event on Saturday mornings this summer. Although we don't really watch a ton of TV with Teags, we couldn't resist the opportunity to check out cartoons on the Angelika's big screen outside. 

To our delight, they were showing one of our absolute favorite childhood cartoons:

We set up our chairs on the grass and Sean went and grabbed us some breakfast nibbles. It was a beautifully sunny, not-too-hot day. Great way to spend an early Saturday morning. I mean, we're up early anyway- right, my fellow toddler parents?

 

As anticipated, Teags didn't last long with The Jetsons. Luckily, the Angelika lawn also hosts some fun water fountains, perfect for running through. I brought Teags a change of clothes, so I wasn't too worried about her getting soaked (which she did).

Afterwards, I had to return some items to Anthropologie. There happened to be a new store where we were and it was decorated so well... honestly, like no other Anthro store I have seen (not that I do a lot of actual Anthro-buying, but I've done a lot of Anthro-looking). This store had the.most.amazing MOUSE door. Ask Teagan. She was obsessed. Especially since her dad encouraged her to try and find it. Over and over.

It was such a fun day. So much so that Teags crashed on the way home with her finger still in the raisins box. It was too cute for words.

the Giant meltdown

Because parenting a cute little girl isn't always easy, I thought I'd tell you about our first public meltdown.

It happened yesterday, but perhaps our major parenting mistake occurred weeks ago, when we introduced Teagan to the shopping cart with the toddler car. You know the one.

This is an exact image of the one at our local grocery store. To say that Teagan loves riding in this while we shop is a complete understatement. We initially thought that her excitement was cute, but the trauma from yesterday has pretty much solidified the fact that Sean and I will aggressively avoid eye contact with this cart from now on. 

Everything was going as peacefully as possible, meaning that Teagan was only slightly screaming the words "a mi, a mi" ("to me, to me") as we put her favorite foods into our basket. It was 5:15PM after all, and dinner time was fast approaching.

And then, we got to the parking garage.... 

When I asked Teagan to get out of the car because it was time to go home, she lost it. LOST. IT. 

As I pulled her out one limb at a time, I had to pry her little hands from the roof of the car. She was holding on for dear life. No way did she want to give up that horn, that buckle, that view. 

And then, people started to stare. 

As I tried to put her in the car seat, her screams got even louder and her body, even more wiggly. It took what felt like a good 5 minutes to get her strapped in. There may have even been some bribing going on. You get in, I give you a cup of Cheerios. You know, that kind of thing. 

After I got myself buckled in, I decided to do what any compassionate mom would do: I took a picture to remember this monumental moment. This is what losing the toy-love of your life looks like, folks:

In the parking garage, just after I finally got her in the car seat. 

After debriefing with some friends at work today, I realized my fatal parenting mistake. I didn't give Teagan any warning that she was going to have to exit the vehicle! Instead of talking to her throughout our shop, letting her know that this was only a temporary gig, I abruptly tried to separate her from this joyous occasion. Communication is key, I guess, no matter how old you are! (Lesson learned.)

As we drove home, she started to calm down and I tried to distract her from being so sad. Although she didn't seem too interested at first, she played along. Here's how the story ends:

*Update*

Just to show you how completely obsessed Teags is with this car/cart thing, when she saw me blogging, she ran over and insisted on sitting with me so that she could look at the picture above. Ha!

summer fun

Life with a toddler is pretty awesome, and pretty exhausting at the same time. Case in point, it's Monday afternoon and I should be at work. Instead, I'm taking a break from cleaning house to blog (and possibly watch some trashy reality tv). I suppose that means my hard-earned vacation hours are being well spent, right? It's OK; sometimes it's really nice to be home alone, getting the nitty-gritty things done that get pushed aside while we're living our lives. YOLO, right? (I just learned that phrase from watching Keeping Up with the Kardashians- don't tell anyone.) 

Just because this is cute:

Proudly sporting the kitty-princess shirt. We bought this as a joke ('cause it was so over the top), but she really loves wearing it.

We negotiated with our landlord to stay at our apartment for another year. What a relief it is to not have to move, and we're actually going to be paying a little less than we were this last year, so that's cool. We've really started to enjoy our new neighborhood, too (South Arlington is where it's at!!). We have a pool on-site and a park within a nice walking distance, which provides endless hours of summer fun!

Pool Pirate Face!!

                                           

Saying "cheese" in the new bike seat. 

This broken car is her favorite thing to play with at the neighborhood park.

Slides are pretty cool, too.

So happy.

Over the weekend, our neighbors invited us to go to the beach outside of Annapolis, MD. We didn't technically go to an ocean beach since it was on the Chesapeake Bay, but given that it was only a 40 minute drive from our house, it was well worth it! We were excited to expose Teagan to a beach again since the last time she went, she was only 3 months old. Unfortunately, she wasn't too stoked about the waves, but she kept busy playing in the sand which gave us some unexpected down time for sunbathing!

On our way to Sandy Point! 

Showing off her sand-in-bucket skillz.

Teags wasn't so sure about the loud crashing cold water. She pretty much demanded to be taken out as soon as Sean walked her in. (Note to self: must repeat exposure therapy as often as possible.)

Back in her happy place, playing with her buddy, E.

Teagan's "say cheese" face looks really similar to her look of apprehension.

On our way home from a great day at the Bay!