Thanks, Pixar. Seriously.

Mission accomplished.

I managed to find my way to see Inside Out this weekend. It required taking the girls to the drive-in theater by myself, but that's a very low price to pay to get to see a movie before it's old news.

What's that? You think I'm nuts to take a one year-old to a movie? You're right, of course. But this is Mila we're talking about. She may not be an easy baby, but she likes to be difficult at times that make no sense. If I simply want to sit on the couch with her, I'm going to get my butt kicked. I can absolutely stick her in my lap at the movies, though. I especially can do so in the car. In fact, Miss Mila legit watched the entire Pixar short (which, why am I still all weepy about a couple of fictitious volcanoes? DAMN YOU, PIXAR) and a good ten minutes of the movie before falling asleep in my lap.

Friday night. Drive-in movie. Baby sleeping in my lap. Bag of gummi worms in my hand. The Big Kid at my side. THAT is a really excellent Friday night, you guys.

Perhaps the best part of the whole thing, however, are the conversations that have taken place since watching the movie.

Without ruining anything (I'll leave that to the rest of the internet), I'll just say that spending nearly two hours watching how an 11 year-old manages her emotions has been HUGE in creating opportunities to talk to Alexis about her emotions. We've even managed to talk about how as she gets a little bit older, she might have days when she forgets to let joy and sadness participate in the conversation. When that happens, Alexis might just make bad decisions just like the character Riley did.

Alexis swears it will never happen. She swears she could never ever consider running away or anything like that because MOOOOOM I NEED YOUUUUUUU. But, hey. We've started having those conversations and we're able to do so in a concrete way thanks to Pixar.

That's a super good thing.

It's also a super good thing that the conversations seem like they're going to be a thing for a while. Tonight, in fact, Alexis spent the ride home from dance rehearsal (that's a whole other longish story for another time) talking about her islands and her core memories.

(Sorry that this only makes sense if you've seen the movie. That just means you NEED to see the movie.)

Alexis decided that her islands are dance, friends, and family.

But.

But then she corrected that last one. "Mom, I think family is one of my islands, buy you're your own island," she said.

And then I died from the awesome.

Thanks, Pixar. Seriously.

Mission accomplished.

I managed to find my way to see Inside Out this weekend. It required taking the girls to the drive-in theater by myself, but that's a very low price to pay to get to see a movie before it's old news.

What's that? You think I'm nuts to take a one year-old to a movie? You're right, of course. But this is Mila we're talking about. She may not be an easy baby, but she likes to be difficult at times that make no sense. If I simply want to sit on the couch with her, I'm going to get my butt kicked. I can absolutely stick her in my lap at the movies, though. I especially can do so in the car. In fact, Miss Mila legit watched the entire Pixar short (which, why am I still all weepy about a couple of fictitious volcanoes? DAMN YOU, PIXAR) and a good ten minutes of the movie before falling asleep in my lap.

Friday night. Drive-in movie. Baby sleeping in my lap. Bag of gummi worms in my hand. The Big Kid at my side. THAT is a really excellent Friday night, you guys.

Perhaps the best part of the whole thing, however, are the conversations that have taken place since watching the movie.

Without ruining anything (I'll leave that to the rest of the internet), I'll just say that spending nearly two hours watching how an 11 year-old manages her emotions has been HUGE in creating opportunities to talk to Alexis about her emotions. We've even managed to talk about how as she gets a little bit older, she might have days when she forgets to let joy and sadness participate in the conversation. When that happens, Alexis might just make bad decisions just like the character Riley did.

Alexis swears it will never happen. She swears she could never ever consider running away or anything like that because MOOOOOM I NEED YOUUUUUUU. But, hey. We've started having those conversations and we're able to do so in a concrete way thanks to Pixar.

That's a super good thing.

It's also a super good thing that the conversations seem like they're going to be a thing for a while. Tonight, in fact, Alexis spent the ride home from dance rehearsal (that's a whole other longish story for another time) talking about her islands and her core memories.

(Sorry that this only makes sense if you've seen the movie. That just means you NEED to see the movie.)

Alexis decided that her islands are dance, friends, and family.

But.

But then she corrected that last one. "Mom, I think family is one of my islands, but you're your own island," she said.

And then I died from the awesome.

The Mila Containment System

The "I can't move because I'm touching grass" phase was a beautiful one. Alas, it was short. If you set Mila down in the grass now, she either yells at you for letting her precious little butt touch the ground or takes off in search of things to destroy.

Either way, the joy of productivity left when the phase left.

Enter every outdoor toy imaginable. Between the bubble machine, water table, toy truck, buckets, rattles, blocks, and balls I've piled up around Mila, you would think I would be able to get a few things done outside.

You would be wrong.

There is nothing in this entire world that will keep Mila busy and happily entertained outdoors. Not even Alexis can convince the child that she's better off away from the mud and choking hazards. I've already let the garden and landscaping go for the past two years, so really I have no choice but to keep trying to figure something out.

Oh, yeah. I did figure something out.

Bubbles.

A photo posted by Burgh Baby (@burghbaby) on Jun 21, 2015 at 9:07am PDT

The good news is that I didn't buy that elaborate system of baby gates. Nor did I drag the Pack n Play outside only to be reminded that Mila will set fire to my hair if I put her in that thing ever again. I didn't chain the child to a tree. I simply drug out a baby pool.

No water.

Just the pool.

That magical little blue pool is the most amazing Mila Containment System the world has ever seen. She is physically incapable of going past its walls. It's like a beautiful invisible bubble that keeps the Tiny Human in the same general place. Toss in a toy or two or ten -- any toys at all -- and she's happy for hours.

I mean, eventually she decides she wants to be around other humans. When she does, she sits inside her invisible bubble and yells for help.

Am I terrible for finding it hilarious that she's mad because she thinks she can't leave the confines of the pool? Wait. Don't answer that.

A photo posted by Burgh Baby (@burghbaby) on Jun 15, 2015 at 5:25pm PDT

Because she can't leave.

Ever.

And that is the story of how I managed to weed and mulch the biggest flower bed, weed another flower bed, clean the pond, clean the patio, and replace a bunch of dead shrubs all in one day.

It was amazing.