Let’s just say I’ve never been a fan of 70’s fashion. Unless you count flared leg jeans. I think most of us can admit that those are infinitely better than tapered. Anyway, when I was little I remember absolutely hating one of my outfits. It was a red corduroy jumper with a gold turtleneck underneath. I called it my Ketchup and Mustard outfit. Yucko! It was the late 70’s and I’m sure it was very stylish. My mom has good taste and I remember always getting compliments on outfits she would put on me as a kid. But still… I also remember wearing that gold turtleneck under a green jumpsuit that also had some coordinating gold trim. Hot, hot, HOT!

I say all this because I think this outfit might be one of Daphne’s Ketchup and Mustard outfits. 10 or 20 years from now, she’ll look back and think, “Mom, what the hell were you thinking?” And I’ll have to explain how it was a very sought after boutique brand and very popular with photographers. Blah, blah, blah. So here’s a very crappy snapshot of Daphne in her Matilda Jane Westside knot dress:

I think she looks adorable, but I do wonder what our children will think years from now when they see their professional pictures in their tutus and rain boots with crazy hats and scarves and layered clothes, their Matilda Jane outfits, standing in a grungy alley. And if you have no idea what I’m talking about, just check out any of the children’s photographer groups on Flickr so you can get caught up on all the latest trends.

Chris’s plane just touched down in Houston.

Daphne & I really missed him this week.

Daphne turned 17 months, yesterday. Here’s just a brief recap of Daphne’s last month:

- A few days ago I watched her climb from the chair onto the piano. She was trying to tightrope walk across the keys. She has also climbed on the counters and dining room table. Nothing is safe now. Especially since she seems to have no fear. She must get that from Chris, since I was never capable of climbing out of my own crib. I think my mom finally broke down when I was three and put a step stool up for me.

- She’s talking more. I’ve lost count of the new words I’ve heard her say. Not that she uses them all the time or you can understand them (unless you are around her all the time).

- Last week, Daphne brought my husband a clean diaper. He had just changed her, so he just brushed her off. Daphne was insistent and got down and started to put the diaper on over her clothes. So he decided to check her and sure enough, she needed a diaper change.

- She likes to pretend to sleep on the sofa, complete with fake snoring. She thinks it’s SO funny. Sometimes her “snoring” sounds like growling, or like she’s getting ready to say “redrum” and kill us all.

- I like that communication is getting easier. Not that we understand everything she tells us, but it’s so much easier now. Recently, I was sitting in the living room and called out for Daphne. I asked if she was in her room and I heard her little voice yell, “uh-HUH.”

- Daphne has turned into this cuddly little toddler, which is so weird. The cuddly part, not the toddler part. Although it does seem like time is going by too quickly. Anyway, Daphne never wanted to be cuddled. You could hold her, but she liked to be upright and would never just relax and lay down in your arms. All of a sudden she curls up next to you while you read to her, cuddles with you during nap time. She actually fell asleep at Los Cucos (one of our local Tex-Mex restaurants) and let me hold her the entire time we ate.

- She loves spicy foods… Tex-Mex, Italian, etc. On Monday, I made my mother-in-law’s taco soup recipe. Daphne loves it and ate 3 bowls. Luckily it doesn’t bother her tummy, but I will remember not to give her so much in the future. I think I changed 387 diapers the next day. Yeah, way too much fiber. Reminded me of that line from Mr. Mom, “You don’t feed a baby chili!” Or taco soup, unless it’s in moderation.

- Daphne got a new tooth in this month, and another has almost completely broken through. So that brings the tooth count up to 7 1/2. Woo hoo!!! So, she still looks like a little old lady when she chews, since she only has front teeth.

- Yesterday, Daphne had her first playdate. She had a blast! I thought she was going to be worn out and take a good nap. Nope, she was hyped up all day and just went to bed at her normal time. She is so unpredictable.

- I’ll get her stats soon. It’s been a while since we weighed and measured her. Last time she was 31 inches and 20 or 21 lbs. I think she definitely grown a little.

Daphne and I are trying to stay busy this week, since Chris is out of town. He was invited to come along on a trip to the Dominican Republic by the youth minister at our church. They are planning a summer missions trip and are getting the tour. Chris mentioned something about them working on a building project in one of the poorest areas of the country this summer, but I think the missions organization has several different areas they can get involved in.

Anyway, I miss him already. Heck, I missed him at 2:00pm yesterday and he hadn’t even been gone for 12 hours. Normally it takes me about 3 days to really start to miss him when he travels. I mean, normally it IS kind of nice to do my own thing and work on some projects. But this is the first time that I haven’t been able to reach him by phone. And since he hasn’t been online yet, I assume there isn’t any readily available wi-fi (so no Skype conversations, darn). Chris is probably going through severe internet withdrawal right about now.

Yesterday, Daphne & I went fabric shopping. I wonder if it’s a job requirement for fabric store employees to be old and crabby. I swear, I always get an old crabby lady cutting my fabric. I don’t get it. I always know exactly what I want and never have more than 2 or 3 bolts. The Hobby Lobby employee scowled at me yesterday. I smiled, put the fabric on the counter, said, “I’d like a yard of these, and 1/2 yard of these, please.” Then she scowled at me. Daphne was being her charming self and waving and saying “hi.” That eventually got a smile out of the crabby fabric lady. Oh well. The fabric is for a dress for Miss Daphne (so I can cross another item off my 10 in 10 list). I just need to trace the pattern, dust off the sewing machine and get after it.

Speaking of Daphne, she is 17 months old tomorrow. Stay tuned for my monthly Daphne update. She’s changed so much lately, including learning how to climb onto the piano. Yes, nothing is safe now.

Until tomorrow…

- Finishing up the first season of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia on Hulu. So funny.
- Helping Chris pack for his trip. I totally ROCK at packing. Well, compared to my husband who will take 15 outfits for a 3 day trip. And he will also forget either his shoes, belt or coat.
- Trying not to do any more research on “Crime” + “Dominican Republic” because I don’t want to be worried all week while Chris is gone. I did buy him one of those waist wallets that you wear under your shirt. I’m so paranoid. I mean, I was paranoid when we went to the Bahamas a few years ago.
- Planning my week- menu, activities for me and Daphne, craft projects
- Laughing at the “No touching!” commercial for Chuck with Tony Hale (Buster from Arrested Development). I watched Chuck last season and thought it was a cute show. I need to get caught up on this season.

Since Chris is going out of the country on Monday, we decided to have a family date night. We got dressed up:

And then headed up to Tomball to eat at Goodson’s Cafe. Goodson’s is one of those places that comes to mind when you think about Texas food. Their specialty is chicken fried steak and it’s excellent!! We always get the small platter. Here’s a crappy cell phone shot:

The “small” portion still takes up most of the plate. In fact, they have your sides in separate bowls that sit on top of the steak because there is no room next to it. The large portion, no joke, hangs off the plate. Oh, and it’s only $8.

After Goodson’s we walked around Willowbrook Mall, then headed to Target to pick up a few travel items for Chris. We got home in just enough time to relax and watch BSG.

And yes, Daphne’s dress is one of the new Matilda Jane knot dresses I got from their 60% off sale. Still not sure what top I want to put underneath it, or what hair clip. I am really happy with my order (Fiona Loves Pink top, Vintage Halter top, Abbi, Westside and Fern in Brown knot dresses, teacup apron). It’s definitely out of my matchy-matchy comfort zone, but I like it.

Does anyone else hate January? It’s always such a blah, depressing month. And when I’m feeling blah and depressed I have a tendency to hibernate. I hang out around the house in my yoga pants and t-shirts and have no desire to get out. It doesn’t help that getting ready to leave requires such great effort when you have a toddler. But getting out definitely helps me feel better, so I’m forcing myself out of the house.

This week, Daphne and I have been to our weekly mom’s group, escorted Chris to get his immunizations for his Dominican Republic trip and might go to Toddler Time at the local library tomorrow and the park on Friday. Even though I’ve planned these events around Daphne’s nap time, it is still screwing up her sleep schedule. She will nap in the car on the way home, then sleep in her crib for maybe 20 minutes and be up for the rest of the day. Grrrr… And she’s been waking up in the middle of the night. Which means- Jenny doesn’t get an afternoon nap or a decent night’s sleep. If we don’t leave the house, she’s fine. Seriously, I can’t win. Last night, she was shrieking in her crib. Not her normal “I’m a little bit awake, where’s mommy?, OK, I’ll just go back to sleep” cry. I let her cry those out, but the shrieking “I’m totally awake, where are you MOMMY?!!” normally gets her out of the crib. I guess I just need to let her scream it out, or as my mom tells me “unplug the baby monitor”. That’s really hard for me.

I’m sure you’ve noticed that I don’t have too many political posts here at ELM. And I guess the reason for that is I’m not sure where I stand on the political spectrum these days. I’m so disappointed in George W and the Republican party. And I can’t really say I consider myself a democrat, either. But, I don’t want to go into that. So regardless of whether I agree or disagree with the Obama administration, I hope that today really is a day of change for our nation. Change for the better.

I did enjoy watching some of the Inaugural Celebration concert. And since I’ve been a U2 fan for 20+ years (even saying that makes me feel as old as Adam Clayton looks, hahaha), here’s a clip:

Earlier this week, I jokingly told Chris that I was going to teach Daphne to say “frak” in honor of the BSG (that’s Battlestar Galactica for you non-fans) premiere Friday night. Let’s just say I don’t think that will go over very well with her Grammy. Did anyone else notice the KFC “Frak Pak” commerical? My mom just couldn’t believe it. “Do they KNOW what FRAK means? Why would they advertise like that?” Of course, Chris had to be ornery and say, “No, what does frak mean, Mom?” All I can say is I have a sudden urge to go to Kentucky Frakking Chicken.

So, my fellow BSG fans, what did you think of last night’s episode?

Especially on this blog, hehe. Remember my post about not buying every cute Target shirt I see for Daphne? I suck. My first trip to Target after that post resulted in the following top for Daphne:

But, but.. I can’t be expected to pass up such a cute 80’s inspired top. It’s actually just the black and gray sleeveless top, I layered it over one of her Hanna Andersson t-shirts today. It’s warm here, but not sleeveless top warm, you know. And you can’t see her shoes in the picture, but they are one of my favorite pairs. Black and silver t-strap Pedipeds. So cute.

And my first Matilda Jane order will be here Tuesday. Family, this is what happens when you give me money for Christmas. I either buy stuff for Daphne or get random things like dishwasher soap. It’s no fun to shop for me.