Sleep when the baby sleeps

This bit of parental advice I have clung to since the second Ella was born. Over a year has passed, and I am still a faithful follower. I love it. I need it. My house is falling apart.

Obviously if I'm sleeping I'm not cleaning. And when Ella's awake, I want to be playing with her - not filling her lungs with Pledge, Clorox and Windex. One chore, however, I think Ella actually enjoys. That is vacuuming. The first time I pulled out the vacuum when she was in the room, she was crawling. I figured if she didn't like it, she'd crawl away. Not only did she Not crawl away, she became wide-eyed, curious, and began crawling Toward the vacuum cleaner. Now the child gets practically giddy whenever I pull out the (very loud) monstrosity that is the vacuum, and chases it around the room (laughing) as we do our business.

Another loud object she fully enjoys is the hair dryer. Maybe she's just envious, but whenever I dry my hair, Ella toddles speedily into the room and gets as close to the action as possible.

Back to the matter at hand. We may be living in borderline squalor, but at least I'm rested and Ella has a playmate.

ways I know that Spring is here

1. our lilac tree is blooming (is it a tree or bush?) and i've put a couple of blooms in the kitchen
2. lawns are being mowed, and one of my All Time Favorite smells - the wild onion - is out in full-force
3. my baby is toddling around in bare feet over the cut grass and onions
4. when my baby gets tired of toddling, she plops down and picks dandelions and wild violets
5. the heat is turned Off inside, and occasionally, the air is turned On
6. but mostly the windows are Open
7. irises and tulips have cropped up in neighbors' yards (i aspire to one day have them in mine - along with daffodils and
pansies)
8. i take a walk at least once a day
9. everyone else takes walks, too
10. my baby falls asleep sometimes before the sun is completely down
11. i crave foods like chicken salad, strawberry shortcake and sweet tea
12. which leads me to think about summer foods like barbeque chicken on the grill and pig-pickins...and more sweet tea
13. FLIP-FLOPS (and consequently, fun new nail polishes)