More Time Outs

The time outs have been going pretty well. I have blogged about the need for time outs and how they are not very often. Sometimes we have to go through time out two or three times in a row because Abigail just doesn't care about the fact that she is sent to time out. She will go in for throwing something, for example, and then when she is done doesn't want to remedy the situation. She will either refuse to pick up what she threw or just throw something again. So back into time out we go. Lately, she is starting to turn the tables on us. The conversation used to be:

Me: "Abby, time to clean up."
Abby: "No."
Me: "Yes. Abigail it is time to clean up so we can go to the car. :
Abby: "Get Dolly?"
Me: "No, we have to go. Last warning. You need to clean up. Do you need a time out?"
Abby: "No." Throws toys across room.
Me: "We do not throw! Time out, now."

Now the conversations are taking a different course:

Me: "Abby, time to clean up."
Abby: "No."
Me: "Yes. Abigail it is time to clean up so we can go to the car.
Abby: "Time Out?"
Me: ::Baffled:: "Um, do you need a time out?"
Abby: "Yes. Sit in time out" And walks over to her time out mat and sits down.
After about a minute passes...
Abby: "All done time out?"
Me: "Sure. All done time out."
Abby then walks over to clean up.

So far we have had about 50% success with this. Sometimes she sits in there for the attitude adjustment and sometimes she just goes back to not doing what I am asking. Then it has to be followed by a real time out.

I don't think she is doing anything that is time out caliber but if she really wants to sit in time out, who am I to argue? Hopefully she will continue to do things like this by herself...like going to the potty. More on that in a future blog. Stay tuned!

I Just Don't Get It

It has now started to become more of a mission for me. I am actually looking for things that I don't get. I figured if I stick to only three at a time per post, this will actually come pretty quickly.

1. Halloween and Christmas already???? It is only July 10. Fourth of July holiday ended and retails quickly move all of the merchandise from a prominent display in the front of the store to the back clearance bin to prepare for the next holiday shopping. I am used to seeing back to school supplies coming out shortly after Fourth of July. Then it is followed slowly by Halloween items, Thanksgiving and then Christmas (which gets scattered with whatever is blue and white so they can have a Chanukkah display). I was actually at Babies R Us this past weekend to get a baby shower present. As I am walking towards the registers, I see that they already have Halloween costumes for sale. I actually stopped for a second to reflect on the fact that it is JULY!!!! Then yesterday on my way to work I drove by a billboard for a radio station. The advertisement had a sun on it wearing a Santa Claus hat. The tag line below the station identification said "Your holiday music station." I have already resigned myself to the fact that the day after Thanksgiving most radio stations start the Christmas music. But the day after July 4th? I think that is a new record of ridiculous.

2. Candy. I have a candy dish at my desk. My cube mate had it on her desk before she moved to a different cubicle. Since I usually need a chocolate fix, I decided I would invest in a candy dish. The guy who sits in the cubicle next to mine eats a lot of the chocolate but since he contributes to purchase candy, I have no problem with it. What I do have a problem with is when people come by my desk to either say hi or ask me a question and then complain about my candy choices. Seriously, you are complaining because I have candy and not chocolate today that I nice enough share? The other problem I have is that people will stop by my desk to take some candy and I don't even know who they are. Should I follow them to their desk and randomly take things off of their desk? It isn't like the candy is on a table outside of my desk and just for everyone to help themselves. It is on my desk within arm reach for me. What is even funnier is that people I know or who really stop by to discuss work will ask permission for a piece of candy. I usually just laugh and tell them "Any time!" It is nice that they have manners but I do provide candy for those people who stop by to actually get work done. Though I have had to put up the candy dish when I leave the desk because apparently me not sitting here to monitor the candy becomes an open invitation to anyone walking by to have some candy.

3. Maternity Leave. I have only 4 weeks of work left before I go on maternity leave. There still has been no decision on who will be doing my work while I am on leave. I keep having to tell people that this date isn't exactly negotiable nor can I move it out. She is coming whether I am ready or not! (more on the not ready side but I won't go into that.)

The Rule of Three

After consulting with a friend of mine, Google, I was interested to find this:

"The rule of three is a principle in English writing that suggests that things that come in threes are inherently funnier, more satisfying, or more effective than other numbers of things. From slogans ("Go, fight, win!") to films, many things are structured in threes. There were three musketeers, three little pigs, three billy goats Gruff, Goldilocks and the three bears and the Three Stooges." I know that if I think harder, I can come up with a few more examples like Scrooge was visited by three ghosts. But it is Friday and my brain is not working too well today.

I know that things usually happen in threes and it is pure coincidence but after the death of Ed McMahon and Farrah Fawcett this week, Josh and I wondered who would be the third Hollywood celebrity to meet some tragedy (I am NOT only talking about death. I am not looking for that but I found an interesting website. http://www.celebrity-deaths.com/) Last night we were all just hanging out at home and found out that Michael Jackson died. MICHAEL JACKSON! Ed McMahon and Farrah Fawcett had been battling cancer but Michael Jackson just dropped dead. Unreal.

Then I realized we had our own rule of threes this week but thankfully no death or tragedy. Just inconvenience. I was going to mention this earlier in the week but I was dreading what the third thing to go wrong would be catastrophic. I didn't want to jinx anything.

Over the past three weeks, we have had three major house issues: the well, the freezer and the air conditioner.

The Well:

We are on a well on our property. There is a filtration system which makes the water very drinkable from the sink. We don't even need any type of additional filter on our sink or bottled drinking water. (Though if you come to my house and don't like the water, tough. Drink it or bring your own. BYOB.) Recently the water in our house, however, did start to taste a little funny. Josh has been taking care of the well since day one and all it needs is for us to monitor the chlorine and salt levels. Nothing major. We have had minimal problems with this well and since it is our well, we have no water bills. (SCORE!) But after having funny tasting water, we decided to get someone out to take a look at the well. Apparently, we should have been having someone come out to service the well every other year (it has been 4 1/2 years. oops.) to change the filters, carbon, etc. So, a few hundred dollars later, we have our wonderful water back but we are a little lighter in the pockets.

The freezer:

I came home one day to find that our Popsicles were forming beautiful color pools in the bottom of our freezer and our ice cream was a little soupy. (EMERGENCY! Save the ice cream and then yourselves!) Thankfully we have a chest freezer so we were able to move most of the food items that had not completely defrosted to the chest freezer before having to throw them away. But we had no clue what was wrong with the freezer. It was cool in there but not cold enough to freeze. After fiddling with the dials and realizing that wasn't the problem, it was time to call the Maytag repair man. Now, we had just recently replaced the microwave. I wasn't exactly expecting another 4 year old appliance to go. Unlike the microwave, the fridge was quite a bit more money and was going to be worth spending the money to get someone out to look at it. So we called Maytag and they came out the next day. Fridges have a 5 year limited warranty so we didn't expect to pay much (maybe a deductible) if anything at all. At first they stated that our fridge was out of warranty because we didn't have our paperwork to prove the fridge was under 5 years old. Good thing Josh was there to handle the guy because I would have gone hormonal. We didn't even have walls up for our house 5 years ago let alone the fridge...Josh called the Maytag main office, got the correct paperwork for the closing of our house and that proved we didn't have the fridge in our possession before December 2004. Whew!

The repair man determined we had a freon leak and hooked up a contraption to find the leak...and stated he will be back in a week to check it. A WEEK! UGH! Again, not the end of the world but an inconvenience. In the mean time, he believed we had a problem with our evaporator and ordered a new one. He came back a week later and the evaporator was delivered to our house in the mean time. However, when he came back and opened the box, the evaporator was severely bent. He had to order another one and came back in another week.

So two weeks later, we have a working freezer and we were only out $20 for a tip.

The air conditioner:

The day the freezer is fixed, we realized the air conditioner upstairs (we have separate units for each floor) was blowing but not cold. The temperature was already up to 83 degrees since we have been having a heat index of 105 this past week. Thankfully downstairs the air was working but my parents and grandma were in town visiting which just exacerbated the situation since sleeping arrangements were going to have to be altered. Abigail was sound asleep and since it wasn't unbearable upstairs, we left her sleeping. Josh and I decided we could make it through the night and slept in our bed while my grandma had the guest room downstairs and my parents had the couch. While everyone was getting settled, Josh decided to go outside and upstairs to see if he could tell what the problem was with the air conditioner. However, after a lot of sweat and ant bites over the two of us, we couldn't figure out the cause. Good news was that air conditioners are covered under our general house warranty and I called the company to send someone out. Bad news was that they could not send anyone out for 36 hours. We were work order 301 and while they sympathized, they just couldn't get there any sooner. Good thing I was tired because I would have gone hormonal on them. 8 months pregnant, 3 guests, 105 degrees and one working air conditioner...(though it could have been the downstairs one to go so this was definitely the lesser of two evils). The next day it reached 91 on the thermostat upstairs. I decided that Abby was NOT sleeping upstairs and neither was I that night. We put her in her pack n play downstairs in Grammy's room and I slept on the futon mattress on the floor. Josh decided it wasn't that bad and slept upstairs. Fine. More power to him. I called the warranty company again and someone was set to come out to our house between 8 and 9 AM. True to their word, they showed up at 8 AM, fixed the problem rather quickly (some minor part burned out in the compressor) and we had air in the whole house.

I really hope nothing else is set to go wrong so we have to start counting what will be problem two and three. I am done for now with fixing things but think in your life where you have been encountered by the number three. It is scary!

Did You Just Call Me Fat?

Having gone on the pregnancy ride once already, I thought I would sort of know what I was expecting. I have never really blogged about my weight, getting bigger or people commenting on these before because it didn't really happen when I was pregnant with Abigail. With Cletus, I don't know if people are just getting more brazen or society as a whole figures that when it comes to pregnancy, no topic is taboo. (Minor tangent: I have noticed that since I am pregnant people figure that they are welcome to discuss my belly, body, nipples, cervix, medical decisions, labor, Cesarean sections, and, my favorite, my breasts. These are not topics I like to discuss with most people let alone at work...)

Now, I know that women start showing with second pregnancies earlier than their firsts but some of these comments I can't even immediately comprehend. It is as if I am saying "Did you seriously just say that?" Most of the time the look on my face says just that and I have been witness to some fancy backpedaling. While most of these comments have been made by men, which is expected, most of them have children and I can't imagine what they have said to their poor wives. But I am getting a lot of comments from women too. And of course most of those comments are from women who haven't been pregnant in over 50 years. It is hard for them to understand that things do change over the years.

I am convinced that people are just trying to say I am fat. If I encounter a comment from someone, I usually just have a quick comeback of "Did you just call me fat?" While I know they usually aren't, that comment right there makes them rethink what they just said. So there!

Here is the bottom line...I gained 32 lbs with Abby. I lost it all within the first 6 months (though I actually had a relative argue with me that I didn't lose the weight 2 years later. Ummmm. Yes, I did. She just came back with "Well then you just look like everything shifted." Thanks. I lost the weight but apparently don't look like I did). So far with Cletus, I have gained 20 lbs. I have 7 weeks to go and have gained less weight that last time because I am chasing after a 2 year old. I don't feel that it is a lot or I am doing anything wrong so I am happy to announce that it is just 20 lbs.

In case you are wondering, the average person is recommended to gain 30 lbs during a normal pregnancy.

However, here are the comments I have received:

• "Are you sure it isn't twins?" Yes. I have had three ultrasounds and they have only found one baby.
• "You are enormous!" Really. Someone decided to use the word enormous to describe me.
• "Are you going to make it?" Yes. I have 7 more weeks...not 7 more days.
• "At least the weight is all out in front. That will make it easier to lose the weight later." Again. It is only 20 lbs and it is not just 20 lbs of fat.
• "You are eating again?" Yes. Pregnant women do have to eat and it is normally recommended for all people. Even animals and insects.
• "Make sure you don't gain too much weight." I am not trying or not trying to do anything with my weight. When I am hungry, I eat. When I am full, I don't eat. Very simple.
• "You sure are getting bigger." I am incubating a human. Did you expect her to get smaller?

I even have non weight related comments:

• "You look so tired." Try working a 40 hour week, being in your 8th month of pregnancy and have a 2 year old at home. Then let do it every day and let me know if you feel awake enough to run a marathon. (Most of these come from men who probably don't even do their own laundry. Of course they have time to sleep.) OR
• "Better get your sleep now!" Yes, we can store it up like squirrels for the winter and just pull out a few hours of sleep when we need it.
• "Will you be able to travel to Australia for work in July?" I can't even lay flat on my back right now and you want me to sit in a seat to travel for 32 hours?

I am sure I am forgetting a few comments here and there but these are the ones that I get...weekly...Here is a photo from two weeks ago so I will let you be the judge.

And I don't even care what your comments are because, trust me, I have heard them all!

Falling To Pieces

Josh and I do not always agree with parenting styles of other parents but since it is not our kid, we don't say anything. But it always starts a discussion for us and how we are going to address that issue with Abigail. It can be something like seeing a 4 year old walking around with a pacifier and vowing we will never do that. Thankfully Abby never really liked a pacifier but that is a whole other story. Sometimes Josh and I disagree on how we would handle the same situation. However, we always discuss it and weigh the pros and cons. One thing that we had discussed early on was the fact that when Abby falls down, bumps into something, lands on her tushy or anything minor, we were not going to have a huge reaction. We didn't want to go "OH NO" or run to her side making a huge deal out of the littlest of things. We wanted her to be a tough girl but if she seriously hurts herself, one of us runs to pick her up. Thankfully this doesn't happen too much and she seems to not have inherited my klutziness...yet...

It is amazing how kids really look for your reaction. When Abby was first trying to pull up and walk, she would often fall on her tushy. She almost immediately would look up at us waiting for an "OH NO!" reaction so she knew she could cry and get some sympathy. But we would always clap and just keep it positive. Most of the time it worked well and we have had to modify it as she gets bigger. When Abby finally was walking, she would sometimes fall forward catching herself on her hands. She would look at us, palms up as if to say "There is dirt on my hands, I fell, is this good or bad?" We would just put her hands together, tell her to just dust it off and go back to playing. Other times we would just tell her she is okay and get back to playing. We really were not going to pick her up, coddle her and give her a cookie every time she cried because she fell. It wasn't the message we wanted to get across.

With becoming an extremely verbal 2 year old, reactions are changing. One thing that was picked up from day care was if something hurts you, it is not nice. But a quick kiss makes everything all better. Last week the dialog went like this:

CLUNK!
Abby: ::Sniffle:: "Bumped the head."
Me: "You bumped your head?"
Abby: "Yes, Mommy kiss?"
Me: "Of course!" ::Kiss:: (and checking for bleeding, bruising and then realizing there is nothing within 3 feet of her that could have caused this) "All better?"
Abby: "All better. Not nice, floor."
Me: "The floor hurt you?"
Abby: "Yes. Not nice, floor" As she runs back to playing.

Okay...Floors are not nice. I guess I have to keep a better eye on our floors because they are jumping up and hurting my child...

I came home yesterday to Abigail running around playing and then fell. Of course I was waiting to see what was not nice since she tripped over air. But instead she just got up and announced "Abby okay!" Josh and I exchanged looks and just laughed.

I Just Don't Get It

I told everyone that I wouldn't be able to do a post like this every week but it looks like I am two weeks in a row. (Go me!) Though I do like setting low expectations so everyone is amazed when I actually make a post instead of people wondering where my post is. Though I think I can count on one hand the amount of people who actually read this. So without further adieu, here are things that I just don't get:

1. Craigslist: I am an avid Craigslist visitor (stalker). I visit that site pretty much every week. You never know what you are going to find on there and if I am looking for something in particular, I may stalk it every day. I have been able to get some great things on there but that is another post for another day. Maybe this week if you are lucky! Anyways, I was on there and someone posted a huge package of Elmo gear. Since Elmo is currently a staple at our house, I decided to read the post. This person had books, toys and even an Elmo potty seat (used? eww)that they were willing to trade items for. Reading further I decided to see what sort of items they wanted to trade for it since my curiosity was peaked. Some items were basic for a kids section of Craigslist: swing set accessories, playground accessories, light toys, gift certificates, items that would interest a 4 year old girl, etc. What totally just made my jaw drop was items like this: new sexy lingerie, gently used costumes from a foreplay catalog, Nextel cell, microdermabrasion, professional teeth whitening, pest control or bedding ("4 my mans hous") and a firearm. I can't even make this up. You can go ahead and pick your jaw off of the floor too.

2. Bluetooth: About 3 years ago, Josh and I got Bluetooth headsets so we could talk on the phone in the car without taking our hands off of the wheel. This was more important when Josh was selling insurance because he was always in his car and his cell phone was his work line. What really amazes me is people who HAVE to have them in their ears at all times. Josh and I will joke that we are "that guy" if we forget to take our Bluetooth out. Our headsets reside in the car, where we use them. I don't need to be walking through Publix with it. I even was in an all day work meeting (10 hour meeting) the other day and this guy in there had his in his ear. And he only answered his phone once...during the whole meeting. Yes, I counted to see if there was a vital reason for this device to be in his ear. Obviously, there wasn't. I just don't get how people think that a Bluetooth in your ear symbolizes that you are THAT important that you can't take the .26 seconds to answer the phone with your hand. What really makes me scratch my head is when I see people talking into their phone WHILE the Bluetooth is in their ear. If your Bluetooth isn't working, take it out. Your ear is not a docking station.

3. Wisdom: I know that we should all respect our elders and take in the sage advice that they bless us with. But boy, do I get it so much more with being pregnant. One of my favorite lines that I just don't get is when someone asks you about something simple, like "Are you putting a pillow in the crib?" When you say no because pediatricians recommend not having anything in the crib because they can pose a suffocation hazard. Inevitably, I get a comment back stating "Well, I did it with my kids and they turned out fine." With that logic, why bother getting a polio vaccine or wear a seat belt in the car. Some people made it through life without a either of these. Maybe I should just run across the interstate and if I make it without getting hit, then everyone should do it. I mean, I would turn out fine so that means everyone who does it will be fine. Right?Anyone is able to do whatever they want. It is their life but if the only justification you have to support your argument is "Well, I did it and nothing happened" then you have other issues.

Some things I just don't get.

No Time Out!

Before Josh and I decided to have Abigail, we had always talked about things we would or would not do as parents. Often we would see people pushing their infant in a stroller at 11:00 P.M. or sit in a restaurant while a child screams and the parents just sit and scream back and vow we would never do that to our child. One day, Josh brought home a book called Whale Done and suggested we both read it. At first I was skeptical since I was not sure what I could use it for since we had no children yet and I wasn't working with college students like Josh. But since it was a rather short book, we read it quickly. It was amazing how you can apply the concepts of this book to everything. To sum it up, you need to catch people doing things right instead of always punishing them when they do something wrong. This can be easily translated to relationships, work, pets and children.


We have been using the techniques, basically (Oreo is useless), since then and it really makes life more enjoyable. I would rather tell someone they are doing a good job instead of constantly telling them they are doing a terrible job. It may sound selfish but it is much more rewarding to me in addition to them. So we decided since we were both on the same parenting page, we could easily do this for our child once she understood timeouts and consequences for actions. There was no way we were going to be able to do this on an infant.

Recently we have had to start time outs for Abigail. These aren't every day or even every week occurrences. Timeouts are for major offences like hitting, throwing toys, doing anything very dangerous or otherwise not listening when being asked to do something after multiple requests and/or warnings. The last one I gave her was because she decided that instead of cleaning up as I asked her, she would throw her toys across the room. Not acceptable. The time out went like this:

Me: "Abby, time to clean up."
Abby: "No."
Me: "Yes. Abigial it is time to clean up so we can go to the car."
Abby: "Get Dolly?"
Me: "No, we have to go. Last warning. You need to clean up. Do you need a time out?"
Abby: "No." Throws toys across room.
Me: "We do not throw! Time out, now."

Time outs:
After her 2 minute confinement on her time out mat by the door, we go over to her, tell her how much we love her and she needs to not do whatever she was put in time out for.

Lately we have gotten to the "Do you need a time out?" question and since she knows that time out is coming, she will start to do what we ask. When she does that request, we applaud and are generally over complementary that she listened. Abby feeds off of the praise and we want her to know that we are happier when she does something good instead of always worried about when she does something bad. Thus leading to her making better choices.

Lately when we are doing our praise, she asks "No, time out?" We always respond with "No time out! You did a great job." It makes me wonder if we put her in time out too much and are not catching her doing well often enough. The final answer came this weekend. We have not had to put her in a time out for a good two weeks. As she was heading up for a bath, I ran over to get a quick kiss. When I asked if I can have a kiss, she said "No kiss." I stuck out my lower lip and started to pout saying "Mommy wants a kiss." Finally she leaned over and gave me a quick peck. I broke into a huge smile and said "Thank you! Mommy loves your kisses!" She smiled, looked at me and asked "No time out?" Of course I am not going to give you a time out for not giving me a kiss. Are you kidding me????

I guess we have to work more on this whole time out thing...or maybe not. I got my kiss!

I Just Don't Get It

Jen over at Sprite's Keeper does a post every Tuesday entitled "Random Tuesday Thoughts". I always admired the fact that she blogs every single day. (I have to motivate myself to make my lunch every day let alone blog. Of course the fact that I am frugal means that I will take the time to make my lunch every day.) What I really admire is the fact that she only has random thoughts on Tuesdays only. I have about 30 random thoughts just on the way to work so I don't know that I could even consolidate them to just one day a week and one post. Maybe I just don't want proof when the men in white coats come to take me away.

Therefore, I decided to modify her Tuesday thoughts and just post about things that "I just don't get" with maybe the hopes that someone may enlighten me. Maybe someone will tell me that I have to get on the bandwagon because it will be beneficial to me or someone will just jump on my bandwagon and tell me these things are truly insane. I am really hoping for the latter. Really.

Three things I don't get:

1. Talking on your cell phone while in the bathroom. Especially public bathrooms. Unless someone is picking up the phone for a life saving conversation, I don't see the need to not wait the three minutes it takes someone to use the bathroom. How do I know that their conversation is not life saving? BECAUSE THEY ARE IN A PUBLIC BATHROOM AND EVERYONE HEARS THEIR CONVERSATION. I am not talking about having a quick pick up and a 2 second "I will call you back in three minutes" type of conversation. I am talking about very personal and long conversations. I don't know if people just don't realize the physics of sound bouncing very well off tile bathrooms. Especially when the floors and even walls are tiled like most public bathrooms. You are going to Olive Garden for dinner next week. We get it.

2. Wearing a cowboy hat into work. Anyone who knows where I work and the fact that I live in Orlando, Florida knows this is not something that is normal. If I worked on a cattle ranch in the middle of Texas, that is one thing. But to see someone walking around work with a cowboy hat. I am talking about a very large, white, Stetson. All he was missing was a horse. I guess that would make for problems getting a horse in the office. And it wasn't even Halloween! I have been searching for a reason but have to chalk this up to something I just don't get.

3. People who get irritated when I drive because I let off of the gas pedal while approaching a red light. I even play a game with people who speed past me, mad I am only doing the speed limit, just for me to meet them at the next red light. Do people not realize that speeding to a red light does not make them get to their destination any quicker? If we were on an interstate and I was traveling 70 MPH and the person wanted to go 75 MPH, then they would have ever right to be irritated if I didn't let them pass me. (I do try to drive in the right lane unless I am passing people though I have been passed on the right hand side even in the right lane. Yes, passed on the shoulder.) I understand that in an hour, this person will be 5 miles ahead of me. I will throw a parade for them.

Stay tuned for more of "I just don't get it" coming to a blog near you.

Shampoo

I have a confession to make. This is very hard for me so I will just blurt it out.

My name is Rebecca and I am a Sea World-holic.

Whew! I feel so much better now. I have been meaning to get that off of my chest for years.

Josh and I have had Sea World passes for years. I actually had one before I met him when I was still in college. They had a promotion offering pay one full day, get the rest of the year free. Pair that with a student discount and two free beers that they gave away, and I was set. Of course over the years they changed their promotions but that didn't dissuade us from getting Sea World passes. It always cost justified itself to get the annual passes and offset it by free beer and entertainment. Especially when I lived about 15 minutes away at the time. Josh and I loved the beer school which eventually morphed into beer tasting in the Brewmaster's Club. I was able to recite the beer school script back to the employees who worked there and it was even funnier if I had a few beers in me.

My best friend, Carri, was my maid of honor at my wedding. For my bachelorette party she even took the party to Sea World's Luau Dinner Show. I got up on stage and danced. I really had a great time. I remember asking Carri how she came up with the idea and she very bluntly put "You love Sea World. It wasn't a very hard decision."

The day before I found out I was pregnant with Abigail, Josh and my family were at Sea World. Josh and I attended a quick beer school, in which I had some of my beers and some of his. Then the next day I got a positive pregnancy test. Good thing I was drinking the day before.

Unfortunately, Sea World/Busch Gardens was bought out by In Bev who decided to stop all free alcohol in the parks. BOO!!! So with the assistance of my brother getting us free passes (since we can't offset the price with free beer. Just kidding. We would still go), we have continued our Sea World traditions with Abigail. Abby has gone to Sea World since she was three months old:

We even were lucky enough to stop by when Uncle Adam was at Sea World with his Busch Gardens animals.

But the real thing we couldn't wait for was until she was big enough to start playing in the kids area since the big kids (Josh and I) have been wanting to go for years.

The best part is definitely the splash pad they have there. While it can be overcome with big kids, we try to go early in the morning so we can play by ourselves.

Because of our love for Sea World, it wasn't a surprise to me that Abigail would recognize Sea World before more known characters like Mickey Mouse. However, when I drove by a Sea World billboard with Shamu on it, I would heard a little voice from the back seat. I expected to hear "whale" or "more Cheerios". However, all I heard was "Shampoo! Shampoo!" After a good laugh, I said "Sweetie, it is Shamu." She quickly corrected herself and said "Shamu. Shamu". Now, she does know what shampoo is because we use it in the bath every day so I wasn't quite expecting to hear a giant killer whale to be called the same thing as the yellow soap in the bathtub.

Unfortunately, now Ms. Smartie Pants knows what exit Sea World is and will ask"Sea World? Shampoo? Big hug for Shampoo?" every time we pass. Yes, dear. We can go to Sea World and give Shamu a big hug.

Oh what monster have we created.