Tori's Fair

Tori's fair trip was a little different from her brothers. She liked the carousel ride, but wasn't about to try the ferris wheel. She braved the roller coaster with her dad beside her and came out saying 'again, again'. She rode most of the same rides as her brother, but got in a few other ones while he was riding the big kids rides. In addition to the strawberries, Tori got to ride the dragons and bears. All 3 you sat in side while they spun around and you could turn yourself around in circles. A couple of times she lost her balance, but always seemed ready for more.

In the boat she sat there and looked displeased as this wasn't a thrilling ride for a 2 year old. No fun just sitting in water without getting splashed or thrown around a curve at high speeds. Tori loved the slide as well and was able to complete most of the 2nd fun house without a problem. She was carried around the barrel roll and through the side to side shaker.

The ride for her also seemed a bit long on the Tilt-A-Whirl. In the beginning, she kept trying to scoot up so her feet could be under the bar, but the pressure of the ride kept pushing her back. she didn't seem too pleased at the end of it. She was also snuck onto the scrambler ride. Apparently, she was too short to ride it even with an adult. That was ok, she enjoyed it anyways and her Dad protected her from getting squished by her big brother.

I don't think she was too impressed with the lemon shake-ups at the fair. She got a sour look on her face after the first try and didn't seem interested in it much after that, even though she drank some of it. Once home, she was hot, tired and hungry, so after dinner and a bath she watched Caillou until bed time. She slept like a rock that night.

The Artist's

This past weekend Tori's dresser was painted with bugs and flowers. After her nap, Tori caught her Mommy painting her dresser and had to help. She helped a little and everything was corrected. After the dresser was done, Ollie and Tori got to use the acrylic paint to paint on a piece of paper. They both made master pieces and we had to purchase washable paints immediately.



Since then the artwork has been flowing. A lot of the time Tori ends up more painted than her paper, but the good thing is it all washes off with just a bit of water. Even though the paint does get mixed sometimes, it seems to stay the appropriate color. Tori even has a special pad of paper to paint on and she keeps most of the painting to herself and the paper. Apparently we have artist's in the making.

Relaxing on Mom

Neither Tori nor Ollie could get full last night. On one of her many trips to the kitchen, Tori got a yellow popsicle. She ate part of it and then came into the bedroom and sat on top of me to watch Sponge Bob. She laid back on my stomach and chest and finished her popsicle. Essentially, I was her human chair until she fell off with a thud. No more Mommy chair. Tori was on to other things.

One More Visit

Tori has a doctor's appointment this afternoon to make sure her eye is ok. The redness is gone, the swelling is gone and the bruise underneath is just about gone. The lid does not droop and there is just a slight scratch where she cut it. Everything seems to be fine, but we'll see what the doctor has to say.

Vacation Over

Ollie and Tori had a good time at their great-grandparents' house. They played with everything Grandma got out and told them lots of stories. It rained a lot, but that didn't stop Tori from spending hours playing in the rain and making mudpies with the flyswatter. Ollie wouldn't go into the rain, but he did sit on all of the porch swings and eat like there was no tomorrow. We spent the first part of the trip traveling stopping to get him food to eat. Tori also had her fair share of food, eating three helpings of spaghetti on the first night we were there. All in all, they had a good time and didn't want to leave until the car was packed.

Rain, Rain, Rain

It rained for almost 2 days while Tori visited her great-grandparents. This was to Tori's benefit as she loves getting wet. We got there around lunch time on Saturday and it started raining not too long after lunch. Out Tori went into the rain, running around the yard having a great time. She played in the water shooting out of the gutters like a waterfall because they were overflowing. She also liked taking a bath in Grandma's sunken tub. All the playing in the rain must've worked up an appetite in Tori. She ate 3 plates of spaghetti and we know her stomach isn't that big!



Sunday came and Tori was out in the rain again. This time she made some mud pies with the fly swatter and got herself a bit dirty. Her parents were a bit smarter and got her down to her diaper for this run in the rain. She splashed and played in the puddles for awhile.



In the afternoon Tori had mostly mashed potatoes for lunch with her chicken and green beans. She love mashed potatoes. She also chased the bubbles from her bubble wand to pop them. That seems to be a favorite toy now. Luckily for us it can only be used outside. That night Tori took a very long nap with her grandma, she slept until 7 pm! They got up and everyone had a snack.



Tori also discovered puzzles this weekend. She like the ones her brother was playing with, but she also liked the board puzzles where you place the object (like animals) in the same shaped picture. She kept fighting her brother for the regular puzzle pieces, but they are a little too advanced for her.

Monday was a long trip home and she behaved rather well. She ate most of her lunch at Applebee's and had a good time at the zoo. For some reason, she really likes the fish at the zoo. Eventually she got tired and along with her brother we headed home.

Tori was ready to swing when we got home, she was tired of sitting down for most of the day. Everyone had a late dinner and it was off to bed at 10. Wednesday was most of the same for Tori. She did get to see a few fireworks around our neighborhood before bed. Next year, we'll probably take them both to the fireworks show if it isn't too late. I'm sure Tori will like it.

Oh Tori

Her eye is improving and she is now spending most of her time talking. She loves to chat and has a quick temper. She got mad yesterday because her legs are too short for her to pedal her new tricycle. She also got mad at Ollie several times and told him to stop it. She likes her new remote control car and washing herself with her soapy sponge. Words spew from her lips, and sometimes you can understand them and sometimes not. Should be interesting when they both really start talking.

All By Myself

Tori slept in her toddler bed all last night. She has turned out to be a better napper and sleeper than her brother. She gets into the bed, folds her arms across her chest, shuts her eyes and goes to sleep in about five to 10 minutes. Ollie used to hold out for an hour. She rarely screams when she goes to bed, unlike her brother who still gets grouchy about having to go to bed, unless he gets to go to bed with Mom or Dad. She seems to like her little bed; it's a good fit for her. Of course, she isn't nearly as lanky as Ollie.

Red and Puffy

That's what Tori's big booboo looks like now, She still has some mucus, but for the most part, the bruise is healing. Just one dark streak under the eye now and a nice purplish red eyelid. The gash is still globby and oozing a little, but for the most part, Tori is on the mend. She is on to other things, like whisking Splatter off the bed and giving all of the treats to the cats.

Black and Blue

She fared just as poorly as her brother. Didn't like a thing the doctor or nurses did. She has to come back in two weeks for them to check her eyebrow. She looks better, not as blue or purple. They told us to watch the eyelid and make sure it doesn't droop and to check her eye. So far, everything seems ok. I believe all she hit was her eyebrow, but we'll see. What a birthday present!

You should have seen her when she finally saw it in the mirror. She wasn't sure what it was and started touching it. I was surprised she didn't say, "Ew," but she didn't. She just seemed to want to know what it was.

Birthday Weekend

Tori's birthday weekend contained a lot of activity. Friday night we went out to eat at Joe's Crab Shack downtown. The kids loved the restaurant because there was so much to look at inside. Lots of fish and lights hanging from the ceiling. They ate most of their macaroni and cheese and everyone shared a strawberry cream cheese crepe for desert. After eating we went to the Steamboat festival that was happening downtown. The kids rode the merry-go-round twice, cars and jet-ski's. Both of them enjoyed the rides. Tori went almost into the fountain where all the kids were cooling off, but she didn't quite go all the way in. This would be made up for on Saturday.

She also opened her presents so she could play with them the entire weekend. She got a pink tricycle, a Diego rescue pack, a caillou video, a fur real cat and a Dora blanket. She seemed to like them all, but mostly played with the cat and the tricycle.




Saturday after her nap we took Tori to the Splashdown water park. At first she was a little hesitant about getting into the water because of all the people, but after I got in, she came right out and played in the water for the next 3 hours. She only had a few breaks for food and to go to another attraction, but she loved the entire evening. She is definitely a water bug.

After eating dinner Saturday night we had her cake and her big brother helped her blow out the candles. It was so much fun blowing out the candles, they did it twice! She ate her cake and some ice cream with it. She seemed to like it all.





Sunday came and we didn't plan much since we had done so much the previous 2 days. We were just going to take it easy. Most of the morning went that way until around 1 o'clock. Tori and Ollie were in the downstairs bathroom playing with there Mama in there. Tori tripped on the door stop and went head first into something. She got a cut along her eyebrow that bled quite a bit. Tori cried and cried and that just made it worse. She settled down long enough for the bleeding to stop and for her take her nap around 1:30. Around 3:30 or 4, she got up and we noticed that her eye had swollen during her nap. While I gave her a bath, her eye started to bleed a little bit again due to the swelling, so we decided to take her to the care center.

We made it 15 minutes before closing time and were taken into a room to get her head glued back together for the 2nd time in her 2 year life span. This time, she would not be as calm as the last. She didn't want anyone to touch her boo-boo and she screamed. This caused her eye to swell and fill with blood, making it difficult to stop the bleeding. She was so mad at one point, blood squirted out of her eye in a stream straight into the air, just like on tv!

The doctor and nurse left the room and she calmed down enough for the bleeding to stop. That and a chemical called Let that I held on her cut to help it clot. The doctor and nurse came back in and immediately she started to get a little agitated again. Fortunately, she was calm enough that they could put the glue on her head and we didn't have to go to the hospital to have her sedated, which was the next option. With the glue and swelling it makes it really hard for her to see out of her right eye. On Monday morning her eye was swollen shut, just like the doctor said it would be, but by the afternoon, the swelling had gone down and she could see out of it again. It looks a lot worse than it is and she doesn't seem to mind it at all, she has been playing as usual. She's only tried to pull at the glue a couple of times because a few hairs got caught in the glue and she can see them. We've snipped them off so they aren't a problem.




Tuesday morning she woke up with less swelling around her eye and less black and blue. She was able to see out of it immediately. Wednesday is her 2 year check-up with her doctor, so we should get a good idea of her general health then. Hopefully by the weekend most of the swelling will be gone and we can all go back to our regular bed arrangements. Tori has been sleeping in Ollie's bed with one of us so she doesn't fall out of bed, while the other sleeps with Ollie in our bed. We'll have to get her used to her new toddler bed, which we had a little success with before the accident. She's getting to be such a big girl.

Stop It!

That's Tori's new sentence this week and she uses it a lot around her rowdy brother. Yep, the fighting is starting and the terrible twos are here! Tori throws a lot of fits now and spends a lot of time fussing with Ollie. She also refuses to sleep in her own bed. She cried for an hour last night and woke up a couple of hours later screaming. She slept with her Dad while I got bumped to the office. Sweet dreams, Mama.

Her Majesty, Queen Tori

Tori is a chatterbox now and her favorite word is no. "No, no, no," she tells Ollie or me or her daddy. She is constantly challenging us and yesterday she got into trouble for it. She is also showing her independence. She hates clothes with ruffles and dresses. She threw a fit over her new pajamas with a purple ruffle and wouldn't put on her new sun dress this morning. I did manage to get her into a green shirt and miniskirt/shorts. So much for all of her new clothes for her birthday and her new shoes. Threw a fit about those too this morning and ended up wearing her too little shoes.


Her Majesty, in Jammies AND Swimsuit

The Waker

Habits are hard to break for Tori, especially the one about getting up in the middle of the night. We've left her in her bed during her waking spell and she usually goes back to sleep in 20 minutes of voicing her displeasure. 2 nights ago she awoke and bonked her nose about 10 pm. She got a minor bloody nose and got to sleep with Ollie and her Mama in the big bed. At least until they fell asleep then their Mama was able to sneak out for 4 hours of sleep. Last night seemed to go better. Her brother's protestation about sleeping in his bed woke her around 9:30. She was biting her railing while standing up, so she got a bit of medicine in case she was teething and laid back down, much to her dismay. She went to sleep before 10 and if she woke up in the night, I didn't hear her. That's probably good for training her to sleep through the night. Maybe she'll get the idea soon and stop waking all together.

In other training news, I don't know if potty training her will be any easier than it was to train Ollie. Last night Tori started to poop in the tub, so I grabbed her and put her on the potty because it is soo much fun cleaning poop out of a tub. She squealed and screamed when I sat her on there and laid flat and as stiff as a board, fighting it all the way. Luckily she still went in the toilet and not on any where else. After that she was done with her bath and ready to be dried off and dressed to play.