i wanted to go to the library today. drove there, and it was closed. there was a freaky looking man sitting in his car next to the gate next to the playground, so i opted not to get out and let baby bear play anyway. it looks like a nice playground, so maybe we'll go back on a day the library is open and other people are around.

so, we went to babies r' us to browse. i set a baby bjorn potty chair on the ground, baby bear clung to my leg as though to say ,"i'm not getting on that thing." she did climb on a step stool, kind of laying across it with her belly. then she zoomed over to the jump-a-roos and started playing with the toys on them. nothing jumped out at me from the clearance racks... there were some cute shoes, but nothing major, so i actually did not buy anything there. in the toy debt., baby bear liked the leapfrog telephonics toy. i checked the vowel sounds, and that particular toy actually does say both the long and short vowel sounds. her alphabet bus only says the short sounds. she also liked this little ball that is plastic/rubbery and kind of has honeycomb holes that she can grab. it was way overpriced for a little plastic. she was not happy about letting go of it, but she recovered quickly. when we got out to the car, a boy and his mom were in the car next to us with an adorable black teacup poodle. baby bear saw the dog and started pointing and smiling. the lady rolled down her window, and it turned out she'd put a premie sized onesie on the pup, and purchased a set of bows and headbands for it. my baby girl doesn't really even wear hair bows! she just tears them out. what really cracked me up was when the boy, who seemed like any normal 4 or 5 year old boy said, "isn't she cute?!?"

final stop, the dollar store . the learn and groove music table that we bought baby bear for Christmas sucks the life out of batteries. i had read the reviews before Christmas, and did not find any major issues. i read them again this week, and found another couple of people with the same comment. why it only takes 3 AA's with all the little things it plays and lights up is beyond me. the replacement batteries did the trick, so i guess we will not be taking it back. i'll just try to remember to turn the darn thing off when baby bear is not playing with it to help make the batteries last longer than 3 weeks. while we were there, baby bear picked out a blue bouncey ball with tigger on it. her choices were: ariel, pooh, and belle. i wonder if she would have picked spider man if i had let that be an option. she also wanted a bag of trail mix, but of course that got vetoed by mommy. why pay $4 for 4 batteries when you can buy them for $1? gotta see how much the big packs are at costco, though... they just might be worth it.

when we arrived home, the sun was shining brightly, so even though it was cool, it was actually warm enough for us to play outside for a few minutes. 3 of the crocus bulbs have bloomed (in various locations... 1 under the birch tree and 2 in the flower bed), and there are more on their way. it looks like the tips of some daffodils are peeking up out of the ground, too. hopefully more will come in a couple of months... i'm thrilled with the crocuses, even though january seems a little early for bulbs to bloom. they brighten the bleakness of the season. so far the deep yellow with purple centers seem to be the early risers. crocus bulbs are relatively cheap and apparently not as well liked by bulb-eating rodents. many of the daffs have failed to come up, but the crocuses seem to be propogating quite nicely. i think this is year 3.

i talked to my friend Chatterbox today. we spoke for an hour, which is very easy to do with her. it was good to finally catch up, we had not spoken since before Christmas. she lives about an hour south of here, practically to alabama, southeast of where zann & farmwife's family lives, if i remember correctly. a few months ago, her family was in a bad car wreck. her right foot was basically crushed. well, a 2nd surgery is scheduled for next friday, 2/2. pray that this one goes better than the first. she has a little girl who is just 11 days older than baby bear, and not having full function of her foot is a pain. she hops around all day, so i'm sure her other leg is really strong.

that's my book for the day. baby bear is napping, hubby is home early after going in early, and tonight will be taco night.