Kids and Animals

Esther's sleep pattern has returned to normal (which this mom greatly appreciates) and the flea problem has abated (for now). I've never vacuumed so much in my life, which I guess isn't a bad thing.
Last Tuesday was the end of E's spring quarter in gymnastics and they put on a little show. At the very end of this post is a video. I tried to keep it as short as I could (but if any die hard recital enthusiast would like to watch the whole hour, all you have to do is ask). I didn't know how Esther would handle all the people watching her, but it didn't faze her at all, unless to make her more precocious.

She was very excited to get a medal after the show.

Gene's work load has finally eased off and he had this Tuesday off, so we headed to the zoo. By far our favorite exhibit was the penguins! Well worth the visit.

(E is in the purple hat.)

You'll have to watch the second video to see Esther and a gorilla inter-acting. This little one is a little more tame.

Soaking up some sun.

And of course we had to ride the carousel.

ABC's and 123's

This past week has been a tough one. Apparently Esther is trying to make me a morning person by waking up at 5:30am the last 4 of 5 days (actually one morning it was 4:30). Some of those mornings I was able to convince her it was way too early and she would go back to sleep. But it didn't work on the other days...and mommy was not a happy camper. I love sleep...understatement. I don't do well without it, so you can imagine the fun E and I have had the last few days. My patience is pretty worn, but I'm hanging in there. The one day E slept in until 9am, I woke up at 7:30 and couldn't go back to sleep...ugh!! To top it off, Gene has been super busy with work because they're finishing up their game. So I'm on my own. I admire all the single parents out there. I've only had a taste of it, and only have to handle it for about one more week, but I'm feeling the pain.
And then to add insult to injury, our cats have fleas!! Which would be annoying all by itself, but they love, love, love Esther's tasty skin. Poor darling has bites all over her that itch like crazy. I've been doing everything I can think of: vacuuming frequently, flea-combing the cats, washing bedding, using Frontline on the kitties, putting flea powder under the couch. It feels like a never-ending battle. I've heard that fleas don't like lavender, so next time I'm in Sequim I think I'll buy a bushel and spread it around the house. I've also heard that if you steep lemons overnight, it works good as a body wash to keep fleas away. I haven't tried this yet, but will give a go soon. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm open to any and all at this point.
Esther was being all cute with Sydney, covering him with her blankie. I thought "How sweet", until I realized she was sitting on him and he couldn't escape!

Pretending to be a sleepy cat.

She doesn't look too happy about the ponytails.

However, I think she was just concentrating on making a mess in the bathroom while I played with her hair.

She said Plex was going to outer space, thus the helmet.