Unreliable

I find that ever since Pippa has entered full toddler-hood, it’s hard to find a minute to sit down and catch up on my bookmarks, let alone actually write an entry. So I’m sorry I haven’t been noting much. I’ll do my best to catch up, but I’m not going to lie – I might just read the most recent ones. LOL

So life right now. Pippa is in her own room now. The first week went great and she slept straight through until 7 every morning. And then it got progressively earlier. Now she’s waking up anywhere between 6 and 7 if I’m lucky and she’s been waking up in the middle of the night and coming into our room. Normally one of us just walks her back to bed and lies on the floor next to her bed. No fuss and she falls asleep no problem. Tonight she only wanted Daddy. Way to make Mommy feel bad. But I’d already been sleeping badly and I couldn’t get back to sleep, so here I am. Other than that, Pip’s doing pretty well. I was starting to think that we might have a speech issue. After some initial triumphs (kahma, ayaddin, chicken), she seemed to give it up, including Mama and Dada. But her receptive language has been spot on, a little scary even, because she generally only needs to be told what something is once and then she remembers even weeks later. Her speech seems to be catching up now though. She says bear, dog, baa (for sheep), and meow (for cat). She even came out with Mommy when she was feeling particularly distressed last weekend at the pool. Another milestone – she went in the pool for the first time on Sunday. She didn’t much care for it, but warmed up after a while. The next time I took her she had quite a lot of fun and even practiced holding her breath and dipping her chin into the water, something she’s been doing in the bathtub for a while.

I’m sure you’ve all seen some coverage of the fires going on in Colorado right now. We are safe and well-away from any real risk of harm. Unlike last year’s Waldo Canyon fire, the Black Forest fire is something I can safely put in the back of my mind. A thing to be aware of and informed about, but not something to drive me to genuine fear. It is, however, the most destructive fire in Colorado history, having burnt 473 homes. It’s 30% contained and the cooler temperatures and some rain yesterday have helped. The mandatory evacuation orders have even been lifted. In a way, while more destructive, it’s been an easier fire to fight. We’ve had more rain than we did before Waldo Canyon and the temperatures, while hot, haven’t been as bad as last year during the fire, when they regularly topped 100. The location has also made fighting and containing it easier. Waldo Canyon is a canyon. Heavily wooded, steep, no access for large vehicles. For a long time, the only way to fight it without risking lives unnecessarily was from the air and that wasn’t enough. There have been some pretty awful stories though. Two people were found dead in the remains of their garage, next to their car with the doors open and the trunk packed. They were on their way out. Another family lost their home in the fire last year and were staying with the wife’s parents. That home burned as well!

In terms of the other fires, they’re not close enough to be a threat. Royal Gorge is the closest after Black Forest (which is right at the edge of the city). There’s been smoke cover, but nothing too serious for us. And even the smoke isn’t as bad as it was last year, when I had to dust everything to get the ash off that had come through the screens. It does mean that we probably won’t get to visit Royal Gorge before we move though. It’s something I’ve wanted to do, but it’s expensive, so we hadn’t yet. It’s on our "Colorado Bucket List" though.

Anyway, Pippa Moo is awake and Alan’s getting her dressed, so I should be the good Mommy and make breakfast, especially since Alan’s doing the Tough Mudder tomorrow and won’t get a Father’s Day breakfast.

Thinking of changing my nickname from Liz to Libby. Thoughts?

~Me