Dinner with Nonnie

We visited Nonnie this evening for dinner at her house. She cooked spaghetti, and it was very tasty. We also enjoyed a salad, garlic toast and Rocky Road ice cream for dessert.

Annabelle was a grump when we first arrived. She had done fine almost all the way to Nonnie's house until we stopped at the Kroger just a few miles from Nonnie's house to pick up some garlic toast and ice cream to go with dinner. I jumped out of the car to run in to grab the groceries, and I forgot to tell Annabelle goodbye and that I would be back. Apparently, that is what set her off for the rest of the evening. Hubby calls me while I am in the grocery story with Annabelle screaming in the background. He is wondering, "Are you almost done?" As soon as I make it back to the car, she stops screaming, but her little eyes and face are red from all of the crying she had done. My poor baby! I felt so bad for her.

And, then, she cried all the way to Nonnie's house from Kroger. I think she was just letting me know that she wasn't happy that I had left her.

She did not settle down again until she had some avocado in front of her for dinner. I guess she was hungry? I'm still not sure as she had just eaten her late lunch at 2:00 p.m., and we sat her down for dinner around 5:30 p.m. Could she have possibly been hungry? I started wondering if maybe her ears had started hurting from this nasty cold.

So, she gladly ate most of the avocado, but she wanted nothing to do with the spaghetti, and she seemed quite offended that I would even place any on her plate. She immediately picked it up with a look of complete disgust and handed it to me to get it off of her tray. So, then, I gave her some salad with ranch dressing, and she ate most of that. And, she gummed a third of a banana which she never completely finished. Then, the tears began to flow again. So, being the wonderful Mommy that I am, I offered her Rocky Road ice cream. Life was good for Annabelle again! And, she wanted more. She even ate another helping later in the evening around 7:45 p.m. when the rest of us decided that it was time for our own helping of ice cream.

And, once I get off my butt, I'll share the cutest pictures of Annabelle holding out her hands to take the plate of ice cream from her Daddy. When did she learn that and from whom? It was precious! My picture does not even do it justice.

She played happily for awhile after her dinner and ice cream. My dreams of a frilly girl are no longer as she played with Nonnie's Little Tykes kitchen until she found the "boy toys" placed in the toy basket right next to the kitchen. Who needs a teaset when you've got "boy toys?" Oh my! I guess she is going to take after her mother, climbing trees and digging for worms. I just hope that she also likes to dress up in frilly dresses like I once liked to do (when I was much younger). Of course, I still like to dress up, but not in "frilly" anything.

She found the stairs at Nonnie's house again. She loves those stairs! I am so thankful that we live in a ranch house. Otherwise, the baby gates would have already been installed a long time ago.

Have I mentioned how very nosy my child is? She ventures into every room she can access, and she somehow always finds the same things to play with every time at Nonnie's house that are "No No's." For example, Nonnie has a little glass jarred candle in her bedroom, and Annabelle loves to hold it and walk around with it. All would normally be fine with that if the floors in Nonnie's kitchen and sunroom were not tile. We just worry about my sweet baby falling with the glass jarred candle in her hands and cutting herself. We don't want to run to the emergency room any sooner than we have to. Since we all know that Annabelle is already following in her Daddy's footsteps, that day will come soon enough, unfortunately!

I also noticed that Nonnie put away (out of toddler's hands reach) a glass jar that normally sits on the hearth. Annabelle has always been drawn to this glass jar for some reason, so that was smart thinking on Nonnie's part. Thank you Nonnie!

Annabelle rocked Nonnie's teddy bear (from when Nonnie was a baby) in Nonnie's rocking chair (from when Nonnie was a little girl). She also rocked a little in the rocking chair that was her own Daddy's, but she seems to like her Nonnie's rocking chair a little more. So, since Nonnie has been offering for awhile, we decided it was finally time to bring the little rocking chair home. Also, we're hoping that the little rocking chair will distract Annabelle from climbing into the dining room chairs every day, all day long! Wishful thinking I presume. If she is going to fall from a chair, I'd much rather her fall from the little rocking chair instead of the dining room chairs.

There is a story behind Nonnie's rocking chair, but I cannot remember the details exactly. I believe that Nonnie's Daddy bought it for her from a store in town and he walked it home all the way from town. I am sure that is probably not very accurate as the story sounded much better when Nonnie actually told it. Nonnie, if you are reading my blog now, please post a comment with the details. You can post as "Anonymous" if you don't want to set up an account.

I pulled out the Fisher Price Family Farm that Annabelle's Daddy used to play with when he was a little boy. I had the same set as well. She really enjoyed playing with it. Nonnie offered to send it home with her, but I told Nonnie that we needed to keep special toys at her house so Annabelle would have those fond memories of playing with those vintage toys that her Daddy once played with as well. I remember playing with a train/circus set that my MamaGordon (my Mother's mom) kept at her house. I wonder what ever happened to that little train/circus set. I sure wish I could get my hands on it now!

And, Nonnie got a new dog named Murphy, so now Nonnie has two dogs (Murphy and Buddy). They are both West highland Terriers. Murphy loved Annabelle, and he just licked her little face and hands. Nonnie tried to stop Murphy, and she was going to put Murphy outside, but I told her that Murphy was fine as long as Annabelle didn't pull on him. I just didn't want Annabelle to encourage any biting from Murphy. But, as long as Murphy and Buddy are happy and content with Annabelle, I think she should learn to adjust to dogs (and pets).

Annabelle got fussy again while she was enjoying her last batch of ice cream for the evening (around 8:00 - 8:15 p.m.). And, yes, I do feed my child sweets right before bed. We'll see how this evening goes, but as long as she doesn't respond negatively to the sweets, she can have them. So far, so good!

Nonnie finally got Annabelle calmed down around 8:40 p.m., and Annabelle decided she wanted to play again. So, she ventured into the playroom to rock in another rocking chair that Nonnie's Cousin, Mike, gave her when her first grandchild was born back in 2003. I don't know if the other grandkids have enjoyed the rocking chair, but Annabelle loved it! She loves to rock herself!

So, we finally left around 9:00 p.m. We had a wonderful evening with Nonnie, and I hope we'll get more invites from Nonnie to come visit for dinner (and maybe even to spend the night). Of course, based on Annabelle's track record for the evening, this may have been the last invite!