It kills me every time...

When my BFF Shelby (Schleck) came out in February we had such a good time. We yapped and laughed and yapped and laughed. We sat and yapped about absolutely nothing and everything and bored Will to tears.

We also went to visit a winery and had a tour and a lovely lunch and some sips of delicious wine. Then we decided to go outside and hang out on the front veranda and take some pictures. I really wanted some nice shots of Sadie and Schleck because it's pretty beautiful up there.

However, when we got outside Sadie made a beeline for the stairs and we spent the next 10 minutes going up and down them. Now, Sadie was only 14 months at this point so she needed help doing this. So we went up, we went down, we went up, we went...you get the picture.
Also, the stairs ended in the driveway so we had to be extra diligent in keeping her in our grasp just in case a car went past.

So, after many trips up and down the steps we took her over to the other end of the veranda (porch?) and were trying to entertain her and take some pictures. All she did was buck and carry on, so we went and indulged her stair fetish a bit longer and then took her back to the picture spot.
Again, she went running towards the stairs.

So we tried to distract her and get some pictures of Aunt Bee and Sadie. The progression of shots I got never fails to make me laugh until tears roll down my cheeks. I don't know if anyone but me will find this amusing but I asked "Bee" if I could post them for her to see too. She said yes, I hope she still agrees after she sees them.

Enjoy, and I'm narrating as we go.

Sadie runs towards steps again and Schleck walks with her:


Schleck picks up Sadie to bring her to our (non-death trap) spot to play and take pics. Notice Sadie's face at being denied more stair time:

I try to get Schleck to smile for the shot. She obliges, even though Sadie is bucking and carrying on:

We both laugh at something. Sadie is still thinking about the stairs even though we are trying to amuse her and talk to her:

Gosh, isn't Schleck a good sport? Look at this kid! I'm surprised she hasn't demanded I put down the damn camera and keep my own kid out of the street myself. Why am I making her the bad guy?


OK, the bucking has gotten to be too much. That kid can buck! She can also cry REALLY loud. Aunt Bee's arms need a break. This kid is nuts! But she continues to hold on and keep the little such and such from running to her precious stairs and getting run over. Where is this child's mother????:


Ahhh, defeated. If you have kids, heck, if you've ever been alone with a toddler for over 15 minutes you have had this look on your face at some point. It says, I can't take anymore of this bucking child! Do you want to get run over by a car? I will think only pleasant thoughts. I am not here, I am in my happy place:

And this is one second later. After we realized the look was on her face. We laughed and laughed:

And Sadie got down, and guess where she ran? Yeah, you know where.

Oh, and Aunt Bee is the BEST with Sadie. Seriously, she is like the baby/toddler queen. Sadie even said Shelbee that week. That's how much she rocks, happy-place-face notwithstanding. Like I said, if you don't have that face at least once around a crazy, bucking toddler than you're not human or you're on some awesome drugs.

I am plotting my plan and laying the groundwork for luring her to live near me. You hear that, A.B.?