Mommy's Little Monster

Mika hates Barney! We hope. We attended Jackson's 2nd Birthday Party on Saturday. Mika had a meltdown about 5 minutes after arriving. She started looking a little distressed when presented with her cousin Lucas and it quickly turned to a screamfest. Mika's usually really good about other kids. Not overly pleased, but fascinated nonetheless. Daddy figures that Mika was startled by one of Lucas' many sounds and freaked out without a hope of recovery. We fed her, bounced her, tried various other forms of soothing, took her to other areas of the house. She calmed down maybe twice the whole time and that was when she was upstairs away from the party, but as soon as she was brought back to where the action was, the meltdown resumed. Oh, I lied. Daddy had her calm while checking out the playroom in the basement, but Jackson started crying and it set Mika off again. The theme for the party was Barney. We'd like to believe she was protesting the negative messages that Barney dishes out, but it was probably more like overstimulation. She also doesn't like to hear other babies or kids in distress (who does?) and will quickly match another kid's session with one of her own. Yup. We left 2 hours after we arrived. 1 hour and 45 minutes of Mika Meltdown was about all we were prepared to deal with. I'm not sure how long it would have taken for her to acclimatize to the party, but 2 hours of apparent torture was all we were willing to put her through. Mika fell asleep on the way home. She had some more to eat when we got in, playtime, a quick stroll, and she was asleep for the night. Damon and Kerry came by for the evening and Mika didn't wake once! I think she slept from about 8 to 6. She's getting better at that. Mika still sometimes wakes between 12-1AM for a feeding. Then she'll sleep til around 8-9AM. Otherwise she's getting her Daddy up between 5-6AM for his pre-work Mika time. It's kewl because she will hang out with him until he has to get ready for work and then goes back to sleep until 8-9AM. Those are the days, man!

We haven't burnt down the Shermans place yet. For that matter, we haven't destroyed anything! Housesitting is kinda fun. I want to keep their house and yard, but transplant it into Edmonton where the taxes are lower and the city picks up the recycling.
Went for lunch with Auntie Laura today. We went to a new-to-me place called Homefire on the west end. Was a good, but not long enough visit. Laura forgot that she had made other plans as well. She came by anyway as we had arranged for her to drop one of her systems off for an overhaul and pick up some of my G photos for a project that she's doing. Ooh..the restaurant served bannock! Mika was digging the decor. She liked the painted hands with spirals in the palm and, of course, the ceiling fan. Oh, the wonder of the spinning blades.
Mika didn't fuss one bit even though she was overdue for a nap. She slept for most of the afternoon after falling asleep during the ride home. Nice!