And for our next trick... a new laptop!
Last night was quite... unusual. Our Federal return came in and Mike and I decided it was high time to get a laptop. And since both of us play computer games, well, it might as well be a gaming laptop! It took a while to determine that the Best Buy out in Westminster actually had the laptop I wanted (as mentioned on FB last night, the Asus G75W). It's quite the sexy beast. Keira handled the store quite well, mostly because we put her on her monkey leash and I let her roam while Mike dealt with picking up the laptop. Keira became obsessed with the Taylor Swift concert that was being played on the big flatscreen right near the in-store pickup window, so that worked out well for her. Not so much for me, but now is not the time to impose my musical prejudices on her... and really there never will be a time for that. I solemnly swear not to be a beast about her musical preferences, no matter how much I may be bored by them. She loves music. I never want to take that away from her or in any way diminish the joy she takes in listening (and dancing) to whatever music strikes her fancy.
I have to give Mike some mad props for picking up on cues and running with them... When we decided to go look at laptop cases, Keira wanted nothing to do with leaving her new obsession. So I asked her "Where's Daddy? Can you find Daddy?" Mike obligingly "snuck" behind one of the displays, and when Keira caught up with him, "snuck" behind the next one. Keira loved this game, and it got us all the way back to the laptop cases without a hitch. We switched roles on the way back, and once again Keira was more than willing to play our game, where she would not have been so willing to leave her exploration of the various bags and backpacks otherwise.
Dinner was not so successful. It was, in fact, pretty hideous. Since we were out and about, we headed to Macaroni Grill. Keira was mostly okay while we ordered and got our bread and salads (their Mediterranean vinaigrette is quite lovely), in part because I let her play with the I Hear Ewe app on my phone. But once dinner arrived, it was meltdown time. So Mike got to take her out and walk her around while I gulped down my food (grilled chicken and roasted vegetable spiedini), and then I took over while he did the same. At least Keira was happy and the other diners were spared her tantrum. And honestly, at that point she was overtired and cranky, so the meltdown was inevitable. She did eventually eat a little bit of her meal, and then I took her to the car while Mike handled the bill. Keira loved car time. We sat together, she played with her Mr. Hoots owl that Mom made for her, and I did the Mommy Jukebox deal ("ABC" was the most popular request of the night).
Bedtime was relatively easy. She flipped and flopped a bit, and then we both passed out together because, yeah, exhausted. I distinctly remember looking at the clock when she went to sleep and seeing it was about 9:45. "OK," I thought "We'll just give it another five minutes." An hour later, I woke up to realize Keira was still snuggled up with me and I hadn't done *any* of my prep work for tomorrow. :::sigh:::
So, no I didn't get to play with the new hotness last night. Mike only got Firefox set up on it, but at least he got to open it up and play with it a little bit. He said it's damn fast. I can't wait for tonight, when I'll get to start loading all our games and at least a few movies onto it (for Keira's enjoyment when we fly to Nebraska next week).