Like the new look? A large, ultra-warm and grateful THANKS goes out to the very talented Danielle at Blog Makeover Diva for designing this new look for me!

If you’re looking for a new design, go check her out. She can help you get past the standard Blogger template and “flip your blog”.

Thanks Danielle – you’re fabulous!

Step right up, folks, and see the Amazing Counting Toddler! Marvel as she counts from one to six at only 17 months old. Witness as she places her toys in order as she counts. Watch her expertly skip the number four, but then repeat five to make up for it.

This is an event not to be missed! All ages welcome!

Seriously, though, I finally caught Cordy on tape as she was practicing her counting. What you won’t see are the other 15 times she counts to six within the five minutes I videotaped.

And you also won’t hear the 1,000 or more times she does it every. single. day. I can’t get her to say anything else at the moment:

“Hi Cordy, how are you?”
“One. Two. Three…”

“Cordelia, would you like some lunch?”
“One! Twwoooo!…”

We’ve also made a little progress with the whole “mama” deal. This morning, as I came downstairs, she rushed over to greet me and said, “da-daaa!” Well, I suppose that’s closer than we were.

I weighed myself this morning to find out how well I did on week 1 of the Hippo Diet. The result was 1.5 pounds lost. Now, before you cheer, you should know that these are the same 1.5 pounds I’ve been losing and gaining for months. So I really don’t consider them real weight lost.

I’ve done better with food choices – no Shamrock Shakes, more vegetables, less snacking. For our anniversary I ate with abandon, but it was a special occasion, and I feel no guilt for it.

Of course, it’s Easter candy time, and I did fall prey to those damn Cadbury caramel eggs. I wish Cadbury would invent a lower calorie caramel egg. I ended up buying a four-pack, but did manage to restrict myself to one a night (instead of eating them all in one big chocolate and caramel orgy). They’re gone now, and as long as I can avoid that aisle at the grocery, I think I’ll be fine for the remainder of the month.

Exercise has been, well, non-existent. Can’t go walking outside – it’s been raining for 7 days, and it’s supposed to rain for another 7. (If it keeps raining, I’ll get lots of exercise building an ark from our backyard fence.) I’ve danced with Cordy to the Wiggles, and I’ve done my regular 36 laps chasing her around the downstairs each day I’m home with her.

But I haven’t found the time for the workout tape I dusted off. It’s been so long since I did any form of structured exercise; I admit I’m a little frightened of it. I know how out of shape I am, and it would seem depressing to realize I can’t even complete Leslie Sansone’s 3-mile walk.

So that’s the report for week 1. This week, I hope to continue making better food choices, cut back on portion sizes, and do some kind of exercise that doesn’t involve just walking out to the mailbox to get the mail.

1. Life is a delicate balance. For every yin, there must be a yang. The yin of a fantabulous day must have a yang of a night filled with screaming and little sleep. That’s what I get for saying how great the day was.

2. Carbon monoxide detectors and menthol vaporizers don’t mix. Did you know that a Vick’s vaporizer with menthol in it could set off a carbon monoxide detector? Yeah, me neither, but it’s true. Of course, the detector was in Cordelia’s room, and we didn’t realize it’s loud enough to wake anyone in a three mile radius.

3. If you have an important thing to do, the night before is bound to be the night that something happens to wake the child. Aaron was trying to catch a little sleep before returning to Cincinnati for more classes, and I had a Very Important final exam this morning. We had used the vaporizer in Cordy’s room many other nights, but the detector waited patiently until last night to express its displeasure with menthol.

4. Rocking to sleep works better for mommy than child. Three attempts at rocking Cordelia to sleep, and three successes at putting mommy to sleep instead.

5. Being right isn’t always good. Earlier in the week, my mom said she thought Cordy’s runny nose and cough was teething. I disagreed and said I was sure it was a cold. Now, I can’t be sure, but unless I’ve suddenly started teething in the past 24 hours, I can say I was right. But I wish I wasn’t.

6. Blog posts really can come to you in the middle of the night. It’s amazing how blog fodder can just fall into your lap, or screech in your ear. I scribbled down these notes during #7.

7. The child will fall asleep long before the adult can. After the hour of battles to get Cordy back to sleep (and my drifting off in the rocking chair), she finally gave in. I crawled into bed, exhausted. But my mind was wide awake. What if it wasn’t the vaporizer? Will I wake up and find my child dead from carbon monoxide poisoning?

So I then had to get up and set up my own test, putting the detector in the bathroom and closing the door, so if the furnace was malfunctioning, it would detect it in the small enclosed space. It never went off, and Cordy woke up fine this morning. I, on the other hand, woke up tired.

Today it’s cold, grey and rainy in Columbus. In other words, a typical Spring day here. It’s also finals week for me, so I’ve been studying every free moment and taking several exam to finish the two online classes I’m registered for. Aaron is in Cincinnati this weekend for a stage combat workshop, which means I’m a single mom for the weekend.

While I took an exam today, Cordelia spent some time with her grandpa. A new weekend kids activity has started in his neighborhood called PB & Jazz. It started last month, and is running one Saturday a month for now.

It’s an hour long event where the kids are served a PB&J sandwich, juice and cookies, while they listen to local jazz performers. They have songs the kids can sing, and they have a mascot, the Jazz Bear, who even has his own song.

Grandpa reported that Cordy had a great time. She was one of the smallest, but one of the most outgoing. No surprise to me there.

While they were giving instructions on songs, she’d wander up to the band and say hi, then walk back around the kids. She’s never happy unless she’s said hi to everyone in the room. My daughter, the socialite.

He said she would elbow her way past the bigger kids to get right to the front. Ugh, let’s hope that habit doesn’t continue. I’m all for an independent child, but I have a feeling she could go from independent to diva before you can say Celine Dion.

She also loved the food (again, no surprise there) and near the end, she got to try out the drums. Apparently she was quite the drummer. While she may not know it, percussion is in her blood – mommy was a percussionist in school. I expect her to be rockin’ out by her fourth birthday.

The other side benefit of Cordy spending the morning with grandpa? This mommy got to have a special treat: lunch! Wait, not just lunch, but my entire lunch, eaten slowly, without a nearly three foot beggar urchin attached to my leg. I’d forgotten what it was like to eat lunch without getting heartburn from eating so fast.

And to top off an excellent morning and afternoon, the PB & Jazz event ran her so hard that she crashed in the car on the way home. A nap also? It must be a rainy day miracle! Happy toddler, happy mommy, and full bellies for each of us. Yay for Jazzy Saturday!

One last thing: grandpa has also finished a new video of Cordelia. Go check it out.