So, everyone likes to brag about all the cool things their kids know, like shapes, colors, numbers and the alphabet. My kid kinda knows some of those things, but today, she impressed me, as she often does, with her extensive knowledge of the "world of mommy."
*She showed me today at credit cards (ceh-it cars) go into wallets (wah-yet) and that is money (moh-yee).
*We blow-dried mommy's hair with the blow-dryer (loud), and brushed mommy's hair with the brush (buhsh). We also brushed and dried RE's hair.
*RE brushed Tiny Baby's teeth, and then fed her milk (mil).
*Mommy put on makeup (mahte-uh), Ryan put on makeup (well, pretend). Mommy put on mascara (mah-cara), Ryan let mommy put mascara on her (again, pretend, what kind of nut job do you think I am?).
*Other favorite words and phrases: COFFEE (cohp-eee), beer, wine (wihe), cheese and pasta (cheee an pah-tah), apples and oatmeal (mote-mee).
I asked her at dinner the other night, "Do you still like Big Bird?" She shook her head, yes. I asked if she liked Elmo; again, yes. Clifford? Yep. Clifford better than Elmo? Big yes. Then I asked, "Do you have any idea what I'm talking about?" She shook her head, "no."
Dude, my kid is awesome.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
A little overwhelmed...in a good way.
Do you ever just have so much going on, and your brain is racing in so many directions, that it's difficult to think straight? I feel like I have a finger and toe in so many pots, and I know that I need to find some focus, some direction to my little life, but each of these things, despite the chaos they all bring my life, also bring me closer to a kind of peace. I love all of my crazy jobs, and even though I feel like I need to kind of "pick one" I can't, and I won't, and someday I'll just fall over and crash, but until then, I'll keep going, fueled by grotesque amounts of caffeine and chocolate.
I love working at the writing center, and seeing that "AHA" moment on a student's face. That moment when they realize they DO know something, they're NOT stupid, and they CAN write. I had a student walk in one time, tell me she couldn't write, that she was no good at it, and that she'd had terrible grades in this class. She wanted me to help, but didn't want to help herself. I was tempted to tell her, "yep, you're a bad writer, and if that’s what you think, there's nothing I can do for you" but of course, I didn't. I sat her down, told her that we're not going to talk about a) grades or b) negativity. We're instead going to focus on the challenge this prof has offered, and how we're going to work together to get her to rise to that challenge. She told me that the article in question was about some pretty heavy stuff, stuff I'm familiar with, but know I don't have enough understanding of to grapple with. I asked her what that meant, and she replied, "Well, I don't really know".
"Then why write about it?"
"Well…"
"Exactly. If you can't talk about it, you're going to have a helluva time writing about it. So tell me what this article is about."
She went on to tell me all about the article, connect it with some films, and really make some intelligent connections. I repeated everything she said to me, and she was so excited that I gave her so many ideas. But I didn't give them to her, I just allowed her to open up to hearing them. She was so close off when she arrived, that she wouldn't have heard a darn thing I said in those first 5 minutes. She left feeling MUCH more secure about the assignment, and hopefully about the class.
I've got a pile of high school papers to read. These are the honors kids, and I’m hoping I can get through each one with a minimum of crazy citation and grammatical errors. I'm shocked and amazed and a little dismayed at the state of the previous essays I read. I know it's just high school, but sentences people. An essay requires sentences. And please, please, please stop addressing me in your paper. I know it's a small thing, but unless you're writing a "how-to" book, please, stop telling me what to do when I'm reading your paper. There are so many more clever ways to write a sentence! But, I find joy in helping these high schoolers work towards that next step, and I hope to God they figure out how to write and make it into college! If these are their culmination projects, I'd hate to see their application essays!
I just finished up the course work to become a Childbirth Educator. It was truly an amazing, transformative experience, and one that really made me rethink not only my views on pregnancy and the birthing experience, but also the way I'm living my life. Life (and pregnancy, and birth) are all natural, normal occurrences, and our tendency in the US to treat everything as pathological until proven otherwise is tragic. We treat pregnant women as though they are ill, rather than empowering them to believe that the body is designed for this, and through several billion years of evolution, remembers how to do this. Birth is not a place for medicine, it is a sacred place for women and their partners to bring a new life into this world, and should be treated with reverence and grace, rather than I.V.s and Cesareans. I come out of these classes full of passion and fire to spark a revolution in the way we teach Childbirth Education, the way we, as Americans, respond to breastfeeding, and yet knowing that I will be constrained by the rules and obligations of the organization I teach for. If I can empower just one woman to give birth without drugs or medical interventions, then I feel I can begin to make a change. I've gone from having a medicated birth, and birthing a child with an Apgar score of two, to believing that a home birth might just be the right option next time around.
And my little store, who can forget my little shop!? It's a zoo, and I love it. It satisfies my need to work retail, without having to work for "the man", my need to shop without necessarily adding to the clutter in my own life, and my need to help parents make this HUGE transition with style and grace. I know, it's quite an ambition for a little shop that sells baby carriers, but I think big. BIG. And the more into it I get, the more I think it's becoming a reality to open a B&M store. I'd be able to carry all kinds of other helpful items, and offer a really great space for parents to hang out. Not to mention, teach independent Childbirth classes, and be able to actually teach without hospital constraints. And really, in many sense, it'd be easier to be able to leave it all at the store at the end of the day, and then focus on my family at home. The way it's going now, that line is a little blurrier than I'd like.
Volunteering, again, focusing on the parent/baby trio. I love working with this part of the population. It's just such an awesome time for people, and I love being able to be a support for parents at this time. I know what I do at Evergreen is small, but I also know that the program wouldn't run without it's volunteers, so if I can, by proxy, provide that support for parents, then I suppose I am. Besides, the educators at these classes are so amazing; it's inspiring to spend time with them each week.
Oh yeah, and on top of all this, I am working rather diligently to raise a toddler. She's turning out OK, so we must be doing a decent job. I brag about her so much, I'm not even sure what more to say, other than that I love her more than I can put into words, and that I do ALL of what I do to make her world a better place to live. Yeah, I know, idealism, blah, blah, blah, but if you can't start at home, then where the hell are you going to start it?
I love working at the writing center, and seeing that "AHA" moment on a student's face. That moment when they realize they DO know something, they're NOT stupid, and they CAN write. I had a student walk in one time, tell me she couldn't write, that she was no good at it, and that she'd had terrible grades in this class. She wanted me to help, but didn't want to help herself. I was tempted to tell her, "yep, you're a bad writer, and if that’s what you think, there's nothing I can do for you" but of course, I didn't. I sat her down, told her that we're not going to talk about a) grades or b) negativity. We're instead going to focus on the challenge this prof has offered, and how we're going to work together to get her to rise to that challenge. She told me that the article in question was about some pretty heavy stuff, stuff I'm familiar with, but know I don't have enough understanding of to grapple with. I asked her what that meant, and she replied, "Well, I don't really know".
"Then why write about it?"
"Well…"
"Exactly. If you can't talk about it, you're going to have a helluva time writing about it. So tell me what this article is about."
She went on to tell me all about the article, connect it with some films, and really make some intelligent connections. I repeated everything she said to me, and she was so excited that I gave her so many ideas. But I didn't give them to her, I just allowed her to open up to hearing them. She was so close off when she arrived, that she wouldn't have heard a darn thing I said in those first 5 minutes. She left feeling MUCH more secure about the assignment, and hopefully about the class.
I've got a pile of high school papers to read. These are the honors kids, and I’m hoping I can get through each one with a minimum of crazy citation and grammatical errors. I'm shocked and amazed and a little dismayed at the state of the previous essays I read. I know it's just high school, but sentences people. An essay requires sentences. And please, please, please stop addressing me in your paper. I know it's a small thing, but unless you're writing a "how-to" book, please, stop telling me what to do when I'm reading your paper. There are so many more clever ways to write a sentence! But, I find joy in helping these high schoolers work towards that next step, and I hope to God they figure out how to write and make it into college! If these are their culmination projects, I'd hate to see their application essays!
I just finished up the course work to become a Childbirth Educator. It was truly an amazing, transformative experience, and one that really made me rethink not only my views on pregnancy and the birthing experience, but also the way I'm living my life. Life (and pregnancy, and birth) are all natural, normal occurrences, and our tendency in the US to treat everything as pathological until proven otherwise is tragic. We treat pregnant women as though they are ill, rather than empowering them to believe that the body is designed for this, and through several billion years of evolution, remembers how to do this. Birth is not a place for medicine, it is a sacred place for women and their partners to bring a new life into this world, and should be treated with reverence and grace, rather than I.V.s and Cesareans. I come out of these classes full of passion and fire to spark a revolution in the way we teach Childbirth Education, the way we, as Americans, respond to breastfeeding, and yet knowing that I will be constrained by the rules and obligations of the organization I teach for. If I can empower just one woman to give birth without drugs or medical interventions, then I feel I can begin to make a change. I've gone from having a medicated birth, and birthing a child with an Apgar score of two, to believing that a home birth might just be the right option next time around.
And my little store, who can forget my little shop!? It's a zoo, and I love it. It satisfies my need to work retail, without having to work for "the man", my need to shop without necessarily adding to the clutter in my own life, and my need to help parents make this HUGE transition with style and grace. I know, it's quite an ambition for a little shop that sells baby carriers, but I think big. BIG. And the more into it I get, the more I think it's becoming a reality to open a B&M store. I'd be able to carry all kinds of other helpful items, and offer a really great space for parents to hang out. Not to mention, teach independent Childbirth classes, and be able to actually teach without hospital constraints. And really, in many sense, it'd be easier to be able to leave it all at the store at the end of the day, and then focus on my family at home. The way it's going now, that line is a little blurrier than I'd like.
Volunteering, again, focusing on the parent/baby trio. I love working with this part of the population. It's just such an awesome time for people, and I love being able to be a support for parents at this time. I know what I do at Evergreen is small, but I also know that the program wouldn't run without it's volunteers, so if I can, by proxy, provide that support for parents, then I suppose I am. Besides, the educators at these classes are so amazing; it's inspiring to spend time with them each week.
Oh yeah, and on top of all this, I am working rather diligently to raise a toddler. She's turning out OK, so we must be doing a decent job. I brag about her so much, I'm not even sure what more to say, other than that I love her more than I can put into words, and that I do ALL of what I do to make her world a better place to live. Yeah, I know, idealism, blah, blah, blah, but if you can't start at home, then where the hell are you going to start it?
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
20.5 months...nearly two?
I cannot believe I have a near two year old, Julie and Annie have near one year olds, Alyssa nearly has a baby, and the world is still turning (hold on!).
So, what is my near two year old up to? We always knew that when she finally started talking, she'd never shut up and she's held firm to my speculation. She yammers on and on, all day, without regard for conversation, or the English language. Who cares about that darn English language when you speak toddler?!
The current word list includes: dinosaur, helicopter, maniac, pasta, banana, apple, bagel, cheese, stroller, car, "our car", blue, green, Clifford, George, Curious George, and many more that I can't think of. She's also getting pretty good with names, and can say, or try to say, most that we encounter. She says Tracy, Wendy, Alena, Owen, Lindsay, Leah, Julie, Luke, and I swear she calls me Katy half the time. Silly kid.
She LOVES to talk to Nonna and Papa on the phone. She'll pick up her faux cell phone, and when I ask her who she's calling, she'll tell me, "Nonna, Papa, Sadie". Or "Daddy" if he's not at home.
I suspect dancing is an inherited trait, since I got it from my mom, and she's apparently gotten it from me. I need to find a mom and me dance class for us to rock out at...or we need to become a fixture on the Baby Loves Disco circuit. There are two new videos up of her rocking out, and if you listen closely on the second one, you'll hear "Maniac" from Flashdance in the background, and her saying, "maniac".
Her current favorite foods include pasta and cheese, though not mac and cheese, but rice pasta and parmesan, and scrambled eggs and applesauce. My kid has an enlightened palette.
When we wake up in the morning, we usually spend some time cuddling in bed, or more realistically, me sleeping and Ry watching Sesame Street. When Elmo is over, she'll try her best to drag me out of bed. Her methods include: poking my face, opening my eyes with her fingers, getting about 1 cm from my face and shouting "mama" at me, yanking the blankets off me, saying "apple" and "hungry" over and over while signing eat and hungry to my sleepy face, and sitting on me. Many times it's a combination of all of these that finally does the trick. Waking up to a stinky-breathed toddler in your face every morning is fun, I swear.
But really, what this all means is that Ryan is truly becoming her own person, full of spit and vinegar, and silly and crazy, a little bit princess, and a little bit maniac. She's pretty fabulous, and pretty fun, and I wouldn't trade her for all the world.
Wow, spell check.
OK, yeah, so I don't use spell check. And maybe I should...this is my formal apology to those 4 or 5 people who read my blogs and are annoyed by my spelling errors.
I am deeply, deeply sorry.
I am deeply, deeply sorry.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Fall has fallen
Fall has fallen…it's chilly and crispy and I have to wear socks. Ryan stood in the open doorway this morning and hugged herself and said "brrrr." It's so gorgeous though today…the leaves are all starting to turn, the sun is out, and it's one of the PERFECT fall days that reminds me (again) why I do so love living up here. Of course, I love fall for a multitude of reasons, the weather only being one of them…
-My birthday (October 24th) generally a highlight of my year, and I'm no long bitter about being ever closer to 30.
The colors. There is just something spectacular about the reds, oranges, browns and deep greens that makes me smile.
-Back to School. Call me silly, but it's just not fall if I don't have to buy new pens and notebooks. While I've graduated, and am no longer attending the University, I am taking Childbirth Education classes that start this weekend, and of course, I work on campus, so I still get to experience that whole BTS fun.
-Pumpkin Spice Lattes. Um, nothing to say but yum. Thank you Starbucks.
-Holiday shopping, or window shopping this year for me. I love the mall at holiday time, and as you all know, holiday at the mall starts the instant Halloween decorations come down!
-Halloween! Not so much the candy, though mini-chocolate is always a good thing, but the costumes! I used to LOVE all the planning and crafting and sewing that went into creating my costumes, and now I love planning and crafting and sewing RE's costumes. She'll be Rainbow Brite this year. Who cares what mommy will be!
-Thanksgiving. Martha Stewart Thanksgiving, to be precise. Turkey, cranberries, cheesy rolls, stuffing, gravy, I'm salivating typing this. As usual, any orphans are welcome to join us for our official Orphan Thanksgiving.
-Sweaters. I love sweaters, and I love jeans, and I love wearing them.
-Scarves. There's just something classy about wearing a scarf. I love when the weather supports my fashion choices.
-This year, my girly trip to Portland with Julie…I can't freakin' wait. 2 whole days with no kiddo (though I'll miss her). We never do anything without the kids, so it'll be awesome to have a meal and actually enjoy our food without being embarrassed that the whole restaurant is staring at us and our obnoxious children. Yes, we've become THOSE people. The ones we swore we'd never be.
-My birthday (October 24th) generally a highlight of my year, and I'm no long bitter about being ever closer to 30.
The colors. There is just something spectacular about the reds, oranges, browns and deep greens that makes me smile.
-Back to School. Call me silly, but it's just not fall if I don't have to buy new pens and notebooks. While I've graduated, and am no longer attending the University, I am taking Childbirth Education classes that start this weekend, and of course, I work on campus, so I still get to experience that whole BTS fun.
-Pumpkin Spice Lattes. Um, nothing to say but yum. Thank you Starbucks.
-Holiday shopping, or window shopping this year for me. I love the mall at holiday time, and as you all know, holiday at the mall starts the instant Halloween decorations come down!
-Halloween! Not so much the candy, though mini-chocolate is always a good thing, but the costumes! I used to LOVE all the planning and crafting and sewing that went into creating my costumes, and now I love planning and crafting and sewing RE's costumes. She'll be Rainbow Brite this year. Who cares what mommy will be!
-Thanksgiving. Martha Stewart Thanksgiving, to be precise. Turkey, cranberries, cheesy rolls, stuffing, gravy, I'm salivating typing this. As usual, any orphans are welcome to join us for our official Orphan Thanksgiving.
-Sweaters. I love sweaters, and I love jeans, and I love wearing them.
-Scarves. There's just something classy about wearing a scarf. I love when the weather supports my fashion choices.
-This year, my girly trip to Portland with Julie…I can't freakin' wait. 2 whole days with no kiddo (though I'll miss her). We never do anything without the kids, so it'll be awesome to have a meal and actually enjoy our food without being embarrassed that the whole restaurant is staring at us and our obnoxious children. Yes, we've become THOSE people. The ones we swore we'd never be.
Friday, September 07, 2007
Some new silly, funny RE stories
She cracks me up these days...if it isn't one thing it's another.
She LOVES to talk, and is constantly (and desperately) trying to communicate with us. Example: on Tuesday, she was telling me something, in Toddler, that I couldn't understand. I told her I was sorry but I didn't know what she wanted. It's hard, but I have to remind myself that she understands English, even if she doesn't speak it well yet. She rolled her eyes, sighed emphatically, and repeated herself, "yabahdahdbablahblahdahabayaya BALL." Uh huh. Right. Ball. OK. "What about the ball?" I ask. To which she replies, "Nooooooooo," whilst shaking her head and again, she repeats herself: "yabahdahdbablahblahdahabayaya BALL." She then goes over to the ball, and pushes on it like she wants to bounce, so I ask her if she wants to bounce on the ball. I got an excited head nod (cutest thing ever, really) and we bounce. Good times, but this communication thing is tricky. Very tricky.
And on that communication note, she says many words now. What can she say, you ask? Pretty much anything I ask her to, at least the once. She's getting great at names: Julie, Lucas, Meghan, Mike, Matt (though they sound VERY similar), Owen, daddy, mommy, Nonna, Papa, Kai, Sadie and the list goes on. One of my personal favorites, blueberry, which sounds like boobewwy and is SO cute. She also says butterfly, sounds like buhfy, and flaps her wings (either her bath towel, or if it's her "little wings" her hands). She had to learn butterfly after asking what that on my back was. Oh yeah, mommy has a tattoo. You can't have one until you're 18. And don't get a butterfly.
She also loves to dress up, loves shoes, and loves sweaters/jackets/sweatshirts. She will run around the house in her red polka dot raincoat, flip flips that are 2 sizes too small, and her purple first birthday crown (thanks Nonna and Papa). She loves this, and gets rather angry when I tell her that we a) must wear clothing when we leave the house and b) she may not wear flip flops (that are 2 sizes too small) out when it is raining. We compromise and she wears her 1 size too small faux Crocs that she LOVES. They're hot pink, what's not to love? I am thinking that nothing but hot pink Ugg boots will do as a winter replacement for those. But yes, my little peanut loves to dress up, and she also loves to undress. She managed to remove a dress while in the carrier, on my back, in Macys a few weeks ago. Classy. And today, at home, she nearly got a poopy diaper off on her own. Yeah, my bad for not hearing her say, "poopy," and removing it. But in my defense, she says poopy all the damn time and it usually means nada!
She loves babies. LOVES babies. Real, fake, whatever. Doesn't matter. We saw Meg and new baby Elaina today, and Ryan was just fascinated with her. Elaina was pretty smitten with Ry too, which spells TROUBLE for Meg, sorry to say. Ryan's a bad influence. But no, she just loved her, and I let her hold Elaina on her lap, very carefully, on the floor, with me right there. She did so well, holding her gently, and touching her hair, and saying, "baby," and detailing all of her facial features, in case we'd forgotten where her eyes were. Then she lost interest, found her baby sling, and popped Elmo in for a good nap. Oh, excuse me, Melmo.
Speaking of naps, she actually takes them now. Willingly. I asked her the other day if she was ready to take a nap, and she walked into her room. I told her to grab her stuffies so I could put her in her crib, and she grabbed them and walked over and just stood next to her crib. I picked her up and put her in and she settled herself down on her pillow and waited for me to pull the blankie up. That was it. I walked out of the room and she slept for 2 hours, and woke up super happy, hollering for me! It was great, and I really hope this is a turning point for us!
Other big news for the kid? Well, at 18 months, she weighed 23 pounds, was 31.5 inches tall, and her head is in the 80%tile! She's just shy of average for everything else, though I still think she's a bit of a peanut. She's got every tooth she needs at this point, and will just continue to rock some molars as she gets older. She will start pre-preschool next month, and I think she'll have a blast! It's mostly playtime, with a short circle time for songs, and an outdoor playtime and a snacktime, but I think it'll be great for her to get with some other kids, and have access to activities I'm not willing to do at home, like art tables, water tables, and sand tables. No room, no patience, and no desire to clean that up!
I am certain there are more, and there are certainly pictures that deserve to be posted, and I'm sure sometime in the near future I'll get on that. In my spare time, you know, those hours I have between 11-1am when no one else is awake?
Oh, and what's going on with the rest of the fam? Well, Zoe's great. She's a farty dog though, and it's high time we changed her food and spared the air. Hey, I'm concerned about gas emissions. Daddy is doing well...work's going well for him right now. He's also been chopping up a downed tree from last years storm, and is enjoying playing Paul Bunyon. Me? I'm working at the mall again, just a few hours a week to supplement that darn car payment! The writing center starts back up in early October, and I'm looking forward to getting back over there. Oh, and I am taking classes to become a Childbirth Educator, and look forward to teaching classes on labor and delivery in the New Year. REgarding Peanut is doing well, and growing, and we're in the process of getting a website up and running.
She LOVES to talk, and is constantly (and desperately) trying to communicate with us. Example: on Tuesday, she was telling me something, in Toddler, that I couldn't understand. I told her I was sorry but I didn't know what she wanted. It's hard, but I have to remind myself that she understands English, even if she doesn't speak it well yet. She rolled her eyes, sighed emphatically, and repeated herself, "yabahdahdbablahblahdahabayaya BALL." Uh huh. Right. Ball. OK. "What about the ball?" I ask. To which she replies, "Nooooooooo," whilst shaking her head and again, she repeats herself: "yabahdahdbablahblahdahabayaya BALL." She then goes over to the ball, and pushes on it like she wants to bounce, so I ask her if she wants to bounce on the ball. I got an excited head nod (cutest thing ever, really) and we bounce. Good times, but this communication thing is tricky. Very tricky.
And on that communication note, she says many words now. What can she say, you ask? Pretty much anything I ask her to, at least the once. She's getting great at names: Julie, Lucas, Meghan, Mike, Matt (though they sound VERY similar), Owen, daddy, mommy, Nonna, Papa, Kai, Sadie and the list goes on. One of my personal favorites, blueberry, which sounds like boobewwy and is SO cute. She also says butterfly, sounds like buhfy, and flaps her wings (either her bath towel, or if it's her "little wings" her hands). She had to learn butterfly after asking what that on my back was. Oh yeah, mommy has a tattoo. You can't have one until you're 18. And don't get a butterfly.
She also loves to dress up, loves shoes, and loves sweaters/jackets/sweatshirts. She will run around the house in her red polka dot raincoat, flip flips that are 2 sizes too small, and her purple first birthday crown (thanks Nonna and Papa). She loves this, and gets rather angry when I tell her that we a) must wear clothing when we leave the house and b) she may not wear flip flops (that are 2 sizes too small) out when it is raining. We compromise and she wears her 1 size too small faux Crocs that she LOVES. They're hot pink, what's not to love? I am thinking that nothing but hot pink Ugg boots will do as a winter replacement for those. But yes, my little peanut loves to dress up, and she also loves to undress. She managed to remove a dress while in the carrier, on my back, in Macys a few weeks ago. Classy. And today, at home, she nearly got a poopy diaper off on her own. Yeah, my bad for not hearing her say, "poopy," and removing it. But in my defense, she says poopy all the damn time and it usually means nada!
She loves babies. LOVES babies. Real, fake, whatever. Doesn't matter. We saw Meg and new baby Elaina today, and Ryan was just fascinated with her. Elaina was pretty smitten with Ry too, which spells TROUBLE for Meg, sorry to say. Ryan's a bad influence. But no, she just loved her, and I let her hold Elaina on her lap, very carefully, on the floor, with me right there. She did so well, holding her gently, and touching her hair, and saying, "baby," and detailing all of her facial features, in case we'd forgotten where her eyes were. Then she lost interest, found her baby sling, and popped Elmo in for a good nap. Oh, excuse me, Melmo.
Speaking of naps, she actually takes them now. Willingly. I asked her the other day if she was ready to take a nap, and she walked into her room. I told her to grab her stuffies so I could put her in her crib, and she grabbed them and walked over and just stood next to her crib. I picked her up and put her in and she settled herself down on her pillow and waited for me to pull the blankie up. That was it. I walked out of the room and she slept for 2 hours, and woke up super happy, hollering for me! It was great, and I really hope this is a turning point for us!
Other big news for the kid? Well, at 18 months, she weighed 23 pounds, was 31.5 inches tall, and her head is in the 80%tile! She's just shy of average for everything else, though I still think she's a bit of a peanut. She's got every tooth she needs at this point, and will just continue to rock some molars as she gets older. She will start pre-preschool next month, and I think she'll have a blast! It's mostly playtime, with a short circle time for songs, and an outdoor playtime and a snacktime, but I think it'll be great for her to get with some other kids, and have access to activities I'm not willing to do at home, like art tables, water tables, and sand tables. No room, no patience, and no desire to clean that up!
I am certain there are more, and there are certainly pictures that deserve to be posted, and I'm sure sometime in the near future I'll get on that. In my spare time, you know, those hours I have between 11-1am when no one else is awake?
Oh, and what's going on with the rest of the fam? Well, Zoe's great. She's a farty dog though, and it's high time we changed her food and spared the air. Hey, I'm concerned about gas emissions. Daddy is doing well...work's going well for him right now. He's also been chopping up a downed tree from last years storm, and is enjoying playing Paul Bunyon. Me? I'm working at the mall again, just a few hours a week to supplement that darn car payment! The writing center starts back up in early October, and I'm looking forward to getting back over there. Oh, and I am taking classes to become a Childbirth Educator, and look forward to teaching classes on labor and delivery in the New Year. REgarding Peanut is doing well, and growing, and we're in the process of getting a website up and running.
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Cute Ry story for the day...
Just another funny Ry story for your morning.
I was hollering at the dog yesterday, trying to get her to sit on the bed so I could get her breakfast ready. Ryan, standing by my side, looked at the dog, pointed to the dog bed, and yelled "SI" (her word for "sit"). Zoe sat. Ryan clapped, and toddled to the back door. We went outside, where she took the scoop with Zoe's food to her bowl, and dumped it in. She then picked up EACH ONE of the little pieces of dog food ONE at a time, and put them into the big bowl.
Truly, truly adorable.
Oh, and Gabe (Tammy's Gabe) tried to help out by diapering Izzy...silly, darling, helpful boy. We can't wait to see them next month!
I was hollering at the dog yesterday, trying to get her to sit on the bed so I could get her breakfast ready. Ryan, standing by my side, looked at the dog, pointed to the dog bed, and yelled "SI" (her word for "sit"). Zoe sat. Ryan clapped, and toddled to the back door. We went outside, where she took the scoop with Zoe's food to her bowl, and dumped it in. She then picked up EACH ONE of the little pieces of dog food ONE at a time, and put them into the big bowl.
Truly, truly adorable.
Oh, and Gabe (Tammy's Gabe) tried to help out by diapering Izzy...silly, darling, helpful boy. We can't wait to see them next month!
Slop, sloppy joe
Sloppy Joes
1.5 lbs 85% lean ground beef
1 yellow onion
1 red bell pepper
Sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
1.5 C tomato ketchup
3 T Apple Cider Vinegar
3 T Worcestershire Sauce
2-3 T brown sugar
3 T yellow mustard
4 burger buns, toasted
Brown beef in a nonstick skillet over medium heat, 5-7 minutes. Add onions and bell pepper and season with salt and pepper. Cook until vegetables soften, about 7 minutes. Add ketchup, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, sugar and mustard. Stir to combine. Simmer until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Spoon over split toasted hamburger buns.
Serve with a green salad…sooo good!
Monday, June 18, 2007
Peanut was a flower girl!!
She's a scene stealer...that much we've already established. However, Peanut took it one step further with her flower girl role this weekend. She was decked out in a pink tutu, white tank, pink and green striped babylegs and white ballet shoes. Um, can we say adorable? As I was also in the wedding party, I didn't have a chance to take many pics, but the wedding photographer did, so they will be forthcoming. She did great during the formal pictures, even managing to smile for several of them. RE warmed quickly to the 10 year old ring bearer, and they quickly became pals. RE is always obsessed with the "big girls" and this one liked kids too, so it was a perfect match. The ring bearer managed to drag RE down the aisle without me, surrounded by "ooohs" and "aaahs" from the guests. Once at the front, she came straight to me, stole my bouquet, and used it to "sweep" the altar area...what can I say, she loves to clean?
We spent the cocktail hour greeting guests, thanking them for their kind words about RE's adorable-ness, and eating grapes. Mommy didn't manage to snag any cocktails, but that's cool...
By the time dinner rolled around, it was already half-past Peanut's bedtime, and the little party animal was still rockin' it out. She sat patiently in her high chair, surrounded by pink tulle and all covered up with her giant pink bib. When bride wants pink, bride gets pink. She did amazingly well for a kiddo who hadn't really eaten yet, and was well past bedtime. She played, ate, and wandered around, dancing for a bit, playing with the drumset for a bit, and generally flirting with anyone who'd look at her.
Close to 930, she started doing her drunk walk, which generally means that she's pretty tired. She will walk into furniture, walls, and random people, much like drunk people at a good party. We packed it up and headed home, taking a cupcake and milk for the road.
First flower girl experience was a total success, and we can't wait for next summer to be in Uncle Mike and (to-be) Aunt Allison's wedding!
We spent the cocktail hour greeting guests, thanking them for their kind words about RE's adorable-ness, and eating grapes. Mommy didn't manage to snag any cocktails, but that's cool...
By the time dinner rolled around, it was already half-past Peanut's bedtime, and the little party animal was still rockin' it out. She sat patiently in her high chair, surrounded by pink tulle and all covered up with her giant pink bib. When bride wants pink, bride gets pink. She did amazingly well for a kiddo who hadn't really eaten yet, and was well past bedtime. She played, ate, and wandered around, dancing for a bit, playing with the drumset for a bit, and generally flirting with anyone who'd look at her.
Close to 930, she started doing her drunk walk, which generally means that she's pretty tired. She will walk into furniture, walls, and random people, much like drunk people at a good party. We packed it up and headed home, taking a cupcake and milk for the road.
First flower girl experience was a total success, and we can't wait for next summer to be in Uncle Mike and (to-be) Aunt Allison's wedding!
Friday, May 18, 2007
What's RE up to now?
Here's Peanut, cheesing it for the camera...silly boo. As Kami says it, "cheesebuster!"
She's nearly 16 months...she walks, well, runs pretty much anywhere we'll let her. She talks all the time, though not everyone else will understand her. She can say book, dog, mama, dada, nonna, poopoo, booby, bottle, baby, eyes, nose, belly button, bubbles, itchy and others that I'm sure I just can't think of.
She's a rashy kid. She's always got some rash or another (rarely contagious)...this week it's eczema and a wicked diaper rash. Good times.
She does the funniest things. She plays peekaboo by putting her hands over her eyes, but peeking through her fingers. She points to eyes, ears, nose and mouth and like to kiss her toes goodnight before they get zipped up into jammies. She also likes to touch her toes to her ears, because it makes mommy laugh! She holds her nose and shakes her head when I say stinky, she covers her ears when things get loud, she signs more for EVERYTHING, puts her babydolls in her sling and rocks them, dances everytime she hears music, tries to jump (one leg at a time), does "flops" which closely resemble sideways somersaults, and truly enjoys playing in the dog's water bowl on the deck.
I am constantly amazed at the joy and awe she brings to use daily. It really does seem that if I blink for a minute, she's grown another inch. She's now almost able to reach the top of the kitchen counters. I looked at her today and wondered when she got so big. And grown up, really. She's not been a baby for a while, but more and more each day, I watch her change into a little girl. And of course, I'm crying writing this, because while I'm so proud and pleased at the fantastic job we've done raising her, I'm not really ready for her to be a girl yet.
Time sometimes seems to simultaneously slow down and speed up. It's like red light and green light at the same time, and though I can freeze moments with photographs and videos, I still seem to find moments that I missed. Moments in my memories that are there, clear as the day they happened, but already getting a little fuzzy. Example: I don't have a single photograph of me nursing Ryan, and I never will. I'm crushed by this realization, and cannot believe that I took every single moment that we spent together like that for granted. We nursed 3-12 times a day for 13 months and I don't have a single photograph. I can recall so many moments where we just say quietly looking at each other in the dim green glow of her room, truly relishing in the moment, and I wish that had been captured as I saw it, or as I see it in my mind: as the lovely, dimly lit archetypal photograph of mother and child. But it will have to survive in written word and memory, and I can only hope that will be enough.
I'm working on my final culmination project for my Senior Seminar right now, and as I read more and more about the mana of clothing and memories located within garments, I can't help but recall all of the treasured moments of past events. I'm going to be creating a photo essay of garments that hold import in my life, including my wedding dress, my favorite pair of jeans, my cherished, holey, green cashmere sweater, RE's Brit Bat dress, Michael's favorite excessive pocketed cargo shorts, and other storied articles of clothing. I'm really looking forward to the final product, and hopefully, with the help of my photographer friend, the essay will actually look like I envision it, and not be a dissappointment to my overly perfectionist self.
Speaking of school, and me, for a minute, my research cohort and I presented our undergrad reserach at the UW Seattle today and what is apparently the larget symposium of undergraduate research in the country. I guess it's something UW is renowned for, and being the entirely oblivious student I am, I had no idea really. But anyway, we created a poster based on the countless hours of research we've done on Myth, Media and Post-Apartheid South Africa over the last 5 months. It was really interesting to be at such a meeting of the minds, and I'm really going to float on the academic high that gave me for a while. Our research is slightly controversial, not playing to the general partyline that many have of Nelson Mandela, the ANC and the transition from the aparthied state, and we were called on to defend our research, and actually able to intelligently do so. Not to mention, the poster that I spent a week working on ROCKED, looked really professional, and pretty much blew away most of the others around us. And we drew many curious onlookers to it, but it was so well constructed that most could understand our point without much explanation from us. Honestly, I'm just really proud of the work we've put into it and look forward to wrapping up this quarter and beginning work on the actual article that we hope to write.
Oh, and I graduate in 3 weeks. Sure, I have a truckload of work to do before then, but it seems everytime I'm faced with an excess of academic writing to do, all I want to do is barf words onto a page, and thus becomes another blog entry. Or sometimes, an actual paper; it's a wonder I'm managing to graduate with a 3.76.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Ack! She's One!!
I do not know how this happened, but my little girl is one...this year has gone by so fast (cliche, I know).
She's changed so much in the last year, it's hard to believe she's even the same human being. She's gone from a poopin', cryin', eatin' machine to a little girl who still does all those things, but so much more!
She can:
crawl
walk holding my hand
stand
try to eat with a fork
brush her teeth
brush her hair (and mine)
try to put on socks, shoes, shirts
try to take off diapers!
put her cap on her sippy cup
do a somersault (with help)
climb up slides
and go down them
blow out
kiss
hug
drink from a bottle (this was a big feat)
say "see you later" and "i love you" (sounds like seoolayla and ilavoo)
talk on the phone, and call people too
say "nana" and "hello" and "bye" and "bubble" and bark like Zoe
She's just an amazing little thing, and the most perfect thing Michael and I have ever accomplished together. I think surviving her first year is also a huge accomplishment, and I'm giving us a much deserved pat on the back for the great job we've done. We've thus far raised a compassionate, loving, sweet little girl, who's intensity of emotion continues to surprise and amaze me.
Peanut is fantastic, and judging by this first year, the rest of our lives are going to be a rollercoaster of epic proportions and I can't wait! I really do look forward to watching her continue to grow and change and develop as a person.
-Mama
She's changed so much in the last year, it's hard to believe she's even the same human being. She's gone from a poopin', cryin', eatin' machine to a little girl who still does all those things, but so much more!
She can:
crawl
walk holding my hand
stand
try to eat with a fork
brush her teeth
brush her hair (and mine)
try to put on socks, shoes, shirts
try to take off diapers!
put her cap on her sippy cup
do a somersault (with help)
climb up slides
and go down them
blow out
kiss
hug
drink from a bottle (this was a big feat)
say "see you later" and "i love you" (sounds like seoolayla and ilavoo)
talk on the phone, and call people too
say "nana" and "hello" and "bye" and "bubble" and bark like Zoe
She's just an amazing little thing, and the most perfect thing Michael and I have ever accomplished together. I think surviving her first year is also a huge accomplishment, and I'm giving us a much deserved pat on the back for the great job we've done. We've thus far raised a compassionate, loving, sweet little girl, who's intensity of emotion continues to surprise and amaze me.
Peanut is fantastic, and judging by this first year, the rest of our lives are going to be a rollercoaster of epic proportions and I can't wait! I really do look forward to watching her continue to grow and change and develop as a person.
-Mama
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Par-Tay!!
Woohooo!!! We had a party for Ryan's first birthday and it was crazy fun!!! We had all of her friends (and ours too) over for food and fun! There was a play area for the kiddos, burgers and beer for the adults, and good times had by all! I'm always so pleased and amazed when I get all of my friends together how well everyone gets alone. My playgroup friends mingling with high school friends mixing with Michael's man-buddies...I love it. I mean, one of my playgroup friends was making plans with my neighbor to go to a pub down the street (one sitter for all the girls, we all go out, good stuff!)! And another friend was getting maternity advice from another playgroup buddy. It's just awesome!
Ryan had a blast, though she was totally overwhelmed by all the people! Thank goodness my parents came, because they totally helped Michael and I with RE. She thoroughly enjoyed her cake, digging her paws into it before I even got her into her high chair! She then tasted it, and ate it, and offered it to anyone within reach!! Then she put it in her hair, cause frosting makes great conditioner!
I just can't thank enough everyone who was there to celebrate with us: first and foremost, my parents...we really couldn't have done it without you guys. Julie and Brian, thank you for helping with the aftermath! Maui and Erika, thank you for helping with the BBQ. Kami, thank you for loaning us the great playmat. Jim, thank you for taking pictures, and I'm sure it will be your turn soon enough. Meghan and Kory, thank you for being there with all our random friends and for always being there for all the biggies for us. I can only hope we can do the same for you guys. And to everyone else, thank you so much for being such great friends. I'm so glad we've either known you forever, or have just met you and really made you parts of our lives.
Much love and thanks to all who donated toys to Children's also...we'll be donating them in the name of Ryan and her friends this week...we know they'll be appreciated by the children there.
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