for the "Cutie-bomber". She is considered cute, hip, and will charm you with her smile and friendliness.

We went to the playground yesterday and Noelle introduced herself to another little girl by saying "This is Noelle." I've heard her say it before, but never realized where she got it from until yesterday. When Jaime and I are with Noelle and we meet someone for the first time, we introduce Noelle by saying "this is Noelle".

Makes perfect sense doesn't it?

I had plans to go to a play place with some friends today, but after a rough morning and late start out the door, then a few wrong turns, I decided it was not going to be worth my time to drive way out there. So, I happened to be near a place called the Adventure Science Center here in Nashville, and although I thought Noelle was probably a bit young for it I decided to give it a try.

I was right, she was too young for it. She wasn't even tall enough to do most of the stuff, and there were places I didn't want to let her go because I was afraid I'd lose track of her. I think she had a good enough time, which she usually does when she's able to run around and touch a bunch of stuff.

After that we came home and I spent 45 minutes trying to get her to sleep. At this point it was 1:45. I had mentioned to Andy earlier the idea of maybe taking her to a movie, but I definitely wanted to go to a matinee (which around here ends at 3) so I told him that it wasn't going to be today unless she woke up at some ridiculous time like 2:30. The last matinee was at 2:55. I laughed, because there's no way she'd only sleep 45 minutes. Right? RIGHT?

Wrong. I kid you not, at PRECISELY 2:30 on the dot, that child woke up. Apparently she wanted to go see a movie. On the drive there, she yawned and said "My tired!" UGH!

I don't remember what my first movie was, but I know I was older than 2! Noelle's first movie in the theater was Horton Hears a Who, and she did really well. At first she sat in my lap, then she sat next to me while I put my foot on the corner of her seat to hold it down. She doesn't weigh enough to keep it from folding back up!

At the beginning of the movie she kept talking loudly, asking "what's he doing? who is that? where is that going?" and she got a little confused by the surround sound. She kept turning her head and looking for where it was coming from. Then about 10 minutes in, she said "I don't like this movie" and I thought I was in trouble. I was already planning the conversation with the ticket booth to see if I could get my money back. But, she settled in, and I pulled out some snacks, and she watched the whole movie. During the summer, there are some local theaters that do free movie mornings, and now I know I can absolutely take her to those! I was pretty proud of my little 2 year old.

Noelle has been in bed for a little over an hour, and I've had to go in there 6 times so far. She is being so unreasonable tonight. She's just overtired - we had a long morning walking around Cheekwood Botanical Garden, and she barely napped at all after. So here are the reasons she has called me in there tonight, in order:

1. I don't like this pillow
2. I need more water
3. My foot hurts, can you rub it? That one doesn't hurt anymore, can you rub the other one?
4. My poopy (which was true)
5. My sock is too hard (to put back on, I discovered. Why was it off I asked? "Because I wanted to see my foot.")
6. Can I have warm water? (child prefers it warm at night)

So my child is officially a weirdo, and I am officially DONE going in there. Of course Andy is at a meeting, so I'm dealing with the irrationality of my toddler solo. Good grief.

Edited to add number 7: I fell out of bed. Not unreasonable, by any means, but WHY? For almost a month after we converted her crib she stayed put night after night, and this past week she's been falling out all. the. time. So I had to go in there again. NO MORE! :)

Edited again to add number 8, at 9:30 PM: I don't like it. "It" turned out to be her socks, they were too tight she says. Then when I was about to leave, she cried again that her throat hurts. That seems to be her current favorite symptom. The fun never ends around here! When is Andy getting home???

We're at the 10 week mark today in our pregnancy! Double digits mean a decreased risk of miscarriage, so that's good, but I'm holding out for my next appointment where we'll be able to hear the heartbeat. That's scheduled for March 28. That will help me relax a bit, and then I'll be waiting to feel those first movements.

It's probably because this is my third kid, but I'm already busting out of my regular pants. I regularly unbutton them, and sometimes just end up changing into my pajama pants. I guess I should have Andy get the maternity clothes bin down from the attic. I know it's dumb, but I am nervous about getting them out again. Putting those clothes away after Charlotte died was awful, and it will be hard to look through them again. I really try not to think negatively, but I definitely have thoughts like "I wonder how long I'll get to wear them this time." I suppose in light of that, I should enjoy every moment of it that I have.

I'm not feeling too bad anymore, except for the stomach virus I had this week (thanks, Noelle, and probably your school friends). I get tired easily, and I still get incredibly hungry at times and need to eat immediately. We are trying to do a "no spend March" this month where we only buy groceries and pay bills, nothing else. That's definitely been hard on my cravings! Of course, I made cravings an exception so I am technically allowed, but I try to fight off the temptation.

All in all, I can only hope that the rest of the pregnancy is as easy as the last 10 weeks has been. Maybe with a little less anxiety.

I was sitting in the office while Noelle watched a show, and the dogs started freaking out. Then I heard Noelle say, "Enough! It's just the neighbor's dog!" She's definitely heard us say something similar a time or 100. That dog is always out and about, the owners don't seem to care much about him. He chases cars, follows walkers, and is just generally a nuisance. Today he was in the middle of the road right in front of our house, with his face stuck in some kind of fast food bag. And the owner was right there at her mailbox, so she had to have seen him. I know they don't seem to care about him, but really? Letting him eat out of a random trash bag while you watch? So I went out and yelled at him to stop. Argh.

Noelle should be glad she made me laugh this afternoon, because I was certainly not laughing when not an hour into her nap today I heard her playing the harmonica. Awesome.

It's okay if I let Noelle watch TV for the entire day, right? I mean, we went to Kindermusik this morning and she'll eat lunch and take a nap soon, but the rest of the day? It's just one day, right? Let her watch tv while I try my best to stay awake on the couch?