Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Problem Solver

My child, like many of her age, often doesn't want to eat. Or at least, she doesn't want to eat happily. And of course, she doesn't want to eat what I prepare her. Not to mention, she doesn't want to eat the other 16 things I subsequently offer. 

She is recently enamored with her tongue.  Sticking it out, moving it around, grabbing it (and thusly grabbing our tongues) have become favorite past times of our little munchkin. Therefore, it is all the more important that I convince her to actually keep her food in her mouth and get it down to her tummy. Otherwise, we all know what kind of mess will ensue. (a big one, in case you weren't sure)

Fortunately, I have found a solution. That works for my kid. That works right now. (see, we all know that every kid is totally and completely different and that nothing that works now will work again later. silly babies.)

Toys. Duh, right? Give a kid toys and they will be happy. I hand over a couple small cups with lids or random kitchen utensil and she will put the lids on and take them off and swish things around while I surreptitiously cram everything I can into her little mouth. If she looks up and see that I am indeed feeding her, I hurriedly spoon in one of her favorites like applesauce or hummus. 

"See? I've been giving you that the whole time. Mmm. Now go back to playing." 

Then, while she is preoccupied, in go the veggies and beans and such. It's magic, I tell you.

At least for this week. 

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Monday, April 13, 2009

I Almost Made It

It seemed as though this was a meaningful piece of my life. Have you ever played "Two Truths and a Lie?" 

I used to use, "I've never broken a bone in my body," as one of my truths. Unfortunately, this  now has to count as a lie. 

Exactly one month ago, I broke my ring toe. (On my hand, that's my ring finger. Seemed to make sense as a ring toe too.) I'm not exactly positive how I broke it. As I was coming downstairs that morning, the baby gate was up at the bottom of the steps. Hubby and baby girl had been up for a little bit having breakfast and reading books. I think I was trying to step over the gate, but what really happened was I kicked the post at the end of the banister and then fell over onto the baby gate. It was splendid. And a little bit bloody. 

The photo actually portrays my bruised-ness over a day later and the purple hue had already begun to fade quite a bit. The original shade of violet was almost immediate and darker than any bruise I had ever seen on my body. (And believe me, I am very GOOD at getting bruised.) 

I was fairly certain that due to the bruising and hurty nature of my toe, that it was broken. But when, only a few days later the purple had faded almost completely, I wasn't quite sure any more. When I bruise, it usually lasts for quite a while So long, that not only can I not remember how I got it, but I forgot that the bruise was even there until my child pointed it out to me. (She likes to point things out that perhaps I had previously missed.) 

It's been a month now, and the little bitty toe is still sore. It bends, sure, but it doesn't feel quite up to 100% just yet. I can still do plenty of jumping around on it, as my job requires, but it is still healing. 

Tomorrow, I am 30. And I have broken a bone. I sure feel old.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

At Least It's Been Less than A Month

I keep having tons of things to write about, but once blogging gets puts off the first time, it gets easier and easier to put it off again. 

All that means is that it's time to write a catch-up post...

Baby girl has been a sweet little peach lately. She definitely has her grouchy times (and is currently trying to switch to only one nap which can be interesting to say the least) but she is generally a very happy, joyful child. She loves to hug and snuggle and give little bitty puckered kisses. 








While watching her the other night at one of the mall play-places, we realized she is very independent and brave. Not the least afraid to try any of the climbing toys or scared of the bigger kids, she played for almost an hour exploring everything. I honestly got teared up watching her and how gorgeous she is and how much I love her. My heart was mush. Mush, I tell you. 







She loves her stuffed friends. Every day when she gets up in the morning or from a nap she will choose two furry friends from her stash in the crib. Most of the time it will be two different guys every sleep. Cracks me up. She loves to hug them and rock them and carry them around. So far, however, it has been nice not to have her addicted to one. I can give her anyone to cuddle and
 she'll be happy. We'll see if that sticks or not. 

Shoes are a current obsession. In the tub, she'll put little cups on her feet and when she finds a shoe around the house, she'll try her best to put it on. She hasn't quite figured it out though. Quite frequently, she will put my shoes on my feet. That one can actually do pretty well. Sometimes she even gets the right foot!

My current favorite cute thing that she does is, "I don't know." We'll ask her where someone or something is and she puts her little hands up in confusion. It cracks me right up and we do it over and over just to watch the cuteness. 


Once in a while, we give her free reign and let her run nekkid around the house. The hooded towel is here just for ghostly humor and modesty. But seriously, people, is there anything funnier than a nekkid baby running around the house? I submit that there is not. 









And finally, amazingly she has had two Easters. It doesn't seem that it could be possible, but at the same time, it feels like she's been with us forever. She has loved playing with the plastic eggs all week. Taking
 them out of the little bunny basket, pulling them apart, throwing them across the room. This girl has quite an arm. I think maybe she'll play softball. At the very least, she'll raise chickens. 

 

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Permanence

A month or so ago I got a new tat. I had been waiting until I was done nursing and shortly after we quit, I made the appointment. My first tattoo was definitely a college I-just-want-a-tattoo decision, while this one was very thought-out and well considered. I knew I wanted a wedding band tat, for several reasons. 


First of all, I don't wear my wedding ring most of the time when at home. I don't like getting lotion or dirt or dishwater into my ring so I keep it in a safe place the majority of the time. Secondly, I love the idea of a permanent wedding ring. Frankly, we have enough marriages under our belt for some serious longevity, but I like the physical symbolism.

The text is in Hebrew and is a reference from the Song of Solomon. I wanted a few more characters, but discovered that due to the size and nature of tattoos, they wouldn't fit how I preferred. The common translation is, "I am my lover's," but the more accurate translation of the phrase is, "I am for my lover." The portion I have is, "for my lover," which I think works just as well.

My wedding ring covers it so when I'm out and about, it's just a regular ring, but the symbolism and explanation is underneath. I like it.