Teeny time to eat

This picture was taken very early this morning... somebody didn't want to go to bed at a decent hour. I'd been up till 3:30 in the morning with a teethy babe the night before, and Thad had gotten a nap when I came home, so he stayed up with her. Apparently, it wasn't too long until she fell asleep of her own accord in the middle of a pile of books.

So. Cute. :D

Books are totally still her favorite thing, if anyone's stumped about what to get her for the upcoming holidays. She's in a phase of wanting us to read the same book over and over and over and over and over and... The other night, I read Brown Bear Brown Bear about four times (I hate that book so much), Going on a Bear Hunt 8 times (okay, but too much repetition), and Ben the Bee upwards of 18 or 20 times (at least it's short). We now hate every book we own. We'll learn to hate new books, too, I'm sure, but at least it'll take a little while. :)

This last week has been hellish (hence the lack of writing). NWAV put me behind on my schoolwork, and I've been desperately playing catchup all week. Ari's been teething, and her sleep's been disrupted. And Thad has an extra work night this week.

Oh, and to add to it all, tomorrow is the Michigan game. We here at OSU hate Michigan (is it UofM? Or Michigan State? I never can remember) and Michigan Week is a big deal. People may be leaping into Mirror Lake half-naked as we speak. Anyway, this is the biggest deal OSU/Michigan game in many years- both teams undefeated, yada yada. Upshot? I can't get near my office tomorrow. I can't get together with other students for study groups. Oh, and I better the hell not wear blue tomorrow- Michigan fans coming in for the game have been officially advised not to wear their school colors on the streets, or drive cars with Michigan plates to the game- lest they be assaulted. How sad is that?

Ari is way fun to play with these days. Favorite games:

• The growl-like-a-monster game, where mama/papa and baby go "RAAWWRRR" at each other
• The "I'm gonna blurble you!!" game, which seems to cause much more hilarity than actual blurbles/tickles
• Papa being slapstick... apparently, Thad whacking himself in the head with things and falling down is the height of hilarity
• Ring-around-the-rosey. Although, she only remembers to fall down part of the time
• Rockin' out to music

She's not signing yet, but she will consistently respond to my signs. So, if she's upset, I'll ask her what she wants, and sign various things- if it's not what she wants, she'll grab my hand and push it away. If she does want whatever it is, she'll grab my hand and force me to repeat the sign... I've tried making the signs with her hands, but that goes over about like you'd imagine (here, little toddler girl- let me force your hands into complex shapes!).