The Return of the Room

Originally, pre-baby, we had only adult things in our bedroom and bathroom.  And no, I'm not inferring something naughty, I mean things like chairs, a bed, dressers, lamps, etc.  After having children, your room gets taken over with baby things.

Initially, we had a bassinet, a car seat, a second laundry basket, a changing table mat, diapers, diaper pail, breast pump, breast pump bottles and accessories, diapers, wipes, and lots of other little baby things.  In the bathroom we had a baby bathtub, baby shampoo, baby towels.  Even the dresser drawers got reassigned so we could have baby clothes close.

The room is gradually returning and looking like an adult bedroom and not a baby room.  The bassinet and car seat are gone.  The stool with the lamp and items for middle-of-the-night feedings are gone too.  The breast pump and accessories will be gone next week.  I'm thrilled.  We've still got a baby laundry basket, diaper pail and changing station in the room, and I think that's going to be there for a while, but the room feels like it's more ours than the kids now.

The bathroom still has a lot of baby fun in it though.  My son has a drawer with bath toys (his favorite time of day) that he opens and puts into the tub when we run the bath.  I like bath time too.  He loves it and I love a clean smelling baby.

So, some things are going to stay for a while, but I'm glad the room has returned to parent-land, at least in part, for now.


The Big Boy Update: He Knows No.  He doesn't like no.  Who does, really?  But he'll react to "no" appropriately, which is a big thing.  Say he's going for the cabinets he's not allowed to open.  Saying "NO" firmly will have him turn and go elsewhere (in most cases,) instead of pitching a fit and pushing back like he did not that long ago.  He still gets angry from time to time, but he does listen more now.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  It was my son's day for Kindermusik, but I decided to take the the tiny girl instead.  She's old enough to hold herself up and participate in the songs and fun inclass now, and I wanted to see how she liked it.  She had a great time, left tired, and everyone there couldn't believe how much she's grown in the almost four months since she was born.

Right-size counter:  15.8 pounds to go (Again?  Gonna have to get serious.)

When is Too Soon To Let Something Go?

When is it too soon to clean out and get rid of things?  I've been thinking a lot about this lately because I have a good friend who's daughter is due with a daughter in two months who could use many of our baby items.  It would help her out with the financial burden and it would be a good home for baby clothes and baby items we're not going to be using any more.

Part of me doesn't want to let some of the items go.  I went through everything we've put in the "retired" area for my son two months ago.  Lots of things we won't ever use again, and some of them I know she could use, so I sent them along.  While doing that, I kept out some of the most memorable, or special items of clothing to keep as a reminder of his first year.

But his clothes weren't really suitable for a girl, especially a girl who's mother wants to have a pink and purple baby shower and pink stroller, car seat, crib, bassinet, you get the picture.  So, I've been saving all the clothing my daughter has grown out of to pass on.

But it's hard to pass off all the adorable things she wore, even if she's not four months old.  I know it's the right thing to do.  They'll go to a good home that has a need, now, for these items.  But for some reason it's harder to pass them on now, as opposed to a few years from now.

I can't explain it.  But there is a box of three months of baby cloths ready to go the next time I see her.  Hopefully I'll get to see a few pictures of her baby in them in the months to come.

I do know that I'll love having a "hand-me-down" home for my daughter's clothes in the future.  There is nothing I love more than a good cleaning out.  But I need to balance cleaning up and out with keeping things that help us remember our past—things that were important or special to us. 

I hope I'll have a good balance of keeping and passing on things as the children grow up.


The Big Boy Update:  While some of his body is getting better with the eczema, he still has a terrible time with his wrists, forearms and under his chin.  He gets food all over these areas and anything acidic of that might cause any kind of reaction, makes him try and scratch his skin off.  I feel for the little guy and have to put anti-itch medicine on him sometimes even during meals.  Since the other areas of his body have gotten better, I hope these areas clear up soon too.


The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Bored bored bored.  I'm bored.  I'm laughing because you're funny looking, didn't you know?  Speaking of, aren't I cute?   (I think these are the things that go through her mind.  Maybe I'm just projecting though.)

Right-size countdown:  15.8 pounds to go ...ish.

It's Been a Week

... since we started our diets.  How have we done?  Not badly.  We've both lost over four pounds, which isn't because we were crash dieting, it's that first week of water weight loss that makes you think the rest of the diet is going to be so very easy.  I have a feeling we have a long way to lose the twenty pounds we've set as our goals.

It's so much easier doing something difficult when you have someone to do it with.  I was trying to eat responsibly before last week, but I just didn't have the motivation I do now that I know we've gotten serious and we're doing this together.  It's nice having someone who knows you're hungry and can understand when you want to whine.  It's also nice to not have someone eating cheesecake and donuts around while you're working hard to control your appetite.

We both had our ups and downs this week.   One thing that's helped is we don't have much food in the house that's tempting.  However, when you're hungry, it's amazing how the most boring food item can sound delicious.

One nice change that happens is when you eliminate something from your diet, say sweets or alcohol, after a bit you stop craving it and get to the point where you don't even want it.  I thought I was going to have a hard time with both sweets and alcohol this past week, but so far so good.

The Big Boy Update:  When he was much younger, he started arching his back in the bed and leaning left and right.  I was worried he was really uncomfortable.  We'd hear him doing this in the middle of the night where he'd flop back after arching and moving his hands.  It was about a month later he accomplished rolling over via this method and we discovered he was practicing and working hard instead of being uncomfortable.  Since that time, he mostly sleeps on his stomach with his butt in the air.  I mention this because his sister is now rolling over, only entirely differently.


The Tiny Girl Chronicles: She addressed the problem of rolling over in a more scientific manner.  A fulcrum will help lift or rotate something more easily.  She discovered if she lifts both legs up and leans them together to one side, he whole body rolls over to that side.  She's now half-way to her stomach and she can lean into the rest of the turn.  She learned how to get on her stomach pretty quickly in only a few days, but she doesn't know how to get back to her back.  Last night I got a little concerned because she wants to go to sleep on her side and later rolls to her stomach.  Will she be okay on her stomach all night?  The general thought from doctors is to put them to sleep on their backs and when they can roll over, let them do so on their own.    She rolled over more than once last night and we found her this morning happily asleep on her stomach, so she doesn't seem too unhappy.


Right-size countdown:  15.8 pounds to go

That Actually

I actually think that there are certain words that we use that are sheer filler.  They don't enhance what you're saying, aside from adding extra words.  For example, does the first sentence of this post read any differently if it were to say, "I think there are certain words we use that are sheer filler."

"That" gets thrown in a lot as a connector.  We need the word "that," we just don't need it as often as we use it.  "Actually" seems to be commonly used to add more validity or importance to what the person is saying.   From my experience, confident people use the word "actually" less than less-confident people.

Mind you, this is only my personal impressions on the use of these words, not anything I've read online or know to be a hard and fast grammar rule.  I try to avoid using extraneous "thats" in my writing.  I don't think I do a good job of policing myself when using "actually" in my speech though.

I think I'm going to see if I can catch myself using "actually" over the next several days and see if I use it more than I think I do.  Sometimes, when you monitor your own behavior, you find out you do things you had no idea you do.

The Big Boy Update:  Making Friends.  He had the best time running amok with all the children at the surprise party.  He is drawn to other children, as I hear most kids are.  He also likes his sister—a little less delicately than she can take.  He likes to bring her a pacifier or a blanket, as these are things he loves.  He gently patted her head this morning several times and after we told him what a good boy he was for being gentle, I think he misunderstood and thought he should do it more, only harder.  It was hard to tell him, "no" when he was smiling so big while making friends.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Back to one hole.  She's been having some irritability during and after eating lately. She's got gas, and she gets gas drops, but I was wondering if she was also sucking in too much air.  Last night I did a test and swapped out her two-hole bottle nipple with a one-hole one for her bedtime meal.  She ate it with no dribbling and didn't burp any air and went straight to sleep.  We may put her back on the slower-flow (and longer feeding time) nipples for a bit if it will make her more comfortable at and between meals.

Right-size Countdown:  16.3 pounds to go (Darn my husband's Chicken Ginger Pow dinner that was so good.)

Sesquipedalian

I don't fancy myself a sesquipedalian, but I do like words.  I like learning new words and I even have a "Good Words" document I add words to from time to time.  I like authors who write with an expansive vocabulary.  It's like finding little word treasures while you read.

But I don't consider that I've really learned a word unless I can use it in speech, where appropriate.  I could have a panoply of words I know, but if I can't use it, it doesn't count.  Some words can be hard to use because an opportunity doesn't often present.  For instance, unless I were to do a lot of outdoorsy activities, I don't think I'd get a chance to comment on, "the danger of that talus slope."  And try as I might, it's just not often I get to use abattoir in conversation.

And yet I find I am ineluctably drawn to learning and then using new words.  I was able to use several of my favorite words in this little post, including, sesquipedalian, which describes a person who likes to use long words. 

The Big Boy Update:  He's a little commentator.  He really wants to talk, but he's much better at physical things than verbal things.  His baby sign language is great because he picks up the signs quickly.  He also knows a lot of words because it's clear he understands us.  But he's trying to talk.  He will babble at the TV or at people and it is just the cutest thing.  In some ways, I'm going to miss it when he can really communicate.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  She is far more verbal than he was at her age.  She coos at you as you talk to her, and she understands the back and forth of communication because she responds after you say something to her.

Right-size countdown:  16 pounds to go (whew, I didn't blow it at the party)

Say Hello to Goo

We're preparing for a big party tonight, so this is going to be short and brief.  We have Sirius satellite radio in both our cars.  It seems that the newest car truncates the names of songs.  It's sort of a fun game to try and guess what the name of the song is before you get to the point in the song when they sing the title words.

The first one was a new Pink song.  We'd never heard it and the car was new so we didn't know about the truncation yet.  We knew Pink had some interesting lyrics, but we were all doubled over in laughter because the song was apparently called "Glitter in the A." 

Since then, many songs have been truncated at strange places, making the song sound like it's about an entirely different topic than the one the artist was really singing about.  Yesterday I heard a new song, titled, "Say Hello to Goo."  Science experiment gone wrong with Ectoplasm perhaps?

The Big Boy Update:  His play pen has been removed in preparation for the party and I'm discovering all kinds of things he likes to do with his toys and in the greater room that I wouldn't get to see as much.  There are eight other children at the party tonight; I have a feeling he's going to have a great time.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  She turned over for the first time this morning.  She was lying in her crib awake and ten minutes later she was on her stomach.  She can also do a 180 degree rotation in the middle of the night, which we've yet to see during the day.  And she likes "tummy time" so much that she napped that way earlier.  She doesn't have control of the turning over just yet, but she's made it once without any help.

Right-size Countdown:  16  pounds to go

To See The Future In a Drawer

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have a glimpse into the future?  Not be there, not time travel, just have a glimpse of something forward in time.

I've thought things like, "I wonder if I'll still live here in ten years," or, "I wonder what our new neighborhood will look when it's not a bunch of empty lots."  What about how much the trees in the back yard will have grown or how well the new car will have fared after years of child abuse? 

What if you were able to get a glimpse of where you live right now.  Would you be able to tell if you still lived there if you could see into the future?  Maybe your favorite painting would still be on the wall, even if the furniture and paint had changed.  What if there was lots of antique furniture in the room instead of more modern, clean lined furniture?  What would that tell you?

What if this future-peeking were a game show like Name That Tune?  How much would you need to see of your current house to know if it was your future house?  One room?  Two rooms?  Less?  I like to be organized, and I think I have a relatively good grasp on the things I like and dislike around me.  I would wager it all that I could Name That House Resident in one drawer.  You pick the drawer, if it's mine, I think I'd have a good chance of knowing if the things in it were mine.

If they ever come out with that as a game show, I'm signing up to be a contestant.

The Big Boy Update:  We're decorating for a party and he's having some of his normal areas rearranged.  He noticed Mylar balloons today and was trying to explain to my father that they were on the ceiling by pointing up and talking baby talk involving lots of "oooos."

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Some days she's confusing. I'm hungry and I'm mad.  But I don't want to eat.  But now that the food is not there, I'm going to suck my hand.  And then I'm going to cry.  Also, I have gas and my tummy is rumbly.  She was like this this evening.  Once we got the gas out both ends she settled down, ate some and went to sleep.

Right-sizing counter:   16.3 pounds to go (Remember, the first week is always easy with the water weight dropping off.  I assure you, I'm not starving myself.)

The Internet—Taking the Fun Out Of Speculation

You're out to dinner, some topic comes up, say the Black Plague or the nutritional value of wheat grass or the standard length of a spoon.  Prior to smart devices, we'd all talk about the topic, make guesses, debate it over, postulate theories, etc.  Today, someone pulls out a web-enabled device and finds the answer. 

In some ways, this is a good thing.  I feel like the Internet makes me more knowledgeable.  It helps satisfy my curiosity, and it can even fuel discussions instead of ending them.  But does it have it's downside too?

Are we less prone to do experiments and find out answers for ourselves?  De we rely on the Internet to remember things for us, instead of making a point of remembering ourselves?  And do we consider every fact on the internet to be true fact, or someone's opinion of fact? 

I wouldn't give up my smart devices because I use them so much.  I can't imagine my day without them.  But is there a counter balancing price we pay for the convenience of knowledge?  I don't have the answer.

What I do know is that I try not to look up things when I'm writing a post here.  Because of that my posts may be inaccurate, incomplete or have ideas that have already been thoroughly hashed out by scores of people you can find with a simple Google search.  That's because I'm not writing about someone else's ideas, I'm writing about my own.

The Big Boy Update: He wants to go down stairs now.  He knows how to crawl up them easily, but going down is another story.  He can slide down them backwards, and if you hold his hands he'll even step down them.  He also wants to climb up stairs standing up like adults do, and he'll gladly go up a flight that way if you'll hold his hands.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles: She likes people.  I like to pass her around when I have a chance and let other people hold her.  This morning at the Chiropractor's office she got lots of love from the ladies behind the counter while I was in the back.  My son isn't people shy yet, I hope she'll be the same from introducing her to lots of people. 

Right-sizing counter:  18.0 pounds to go

The Vegetable Soup that Wasn't

My mother has been making a vegetable soup during the winter for as long as I can remember.   This soup is responsible for me learning how to use (and have a healthy respect for) a pressure cooker.  It's lots of fun to make with someone, and it feeds you for days. 

Only, it's not vegetable soup.  Yes, it has loads of vegetables in it, but when I hear "vegetable soup" I don't expect it to really be "vegetable soup with a lot of meat."  So, it's always been mis-named, but it's still what my family calls it.

Yesterday my mother and I made this "vegetable soup," and I've had it for four meals since.  My son thinks it's great, so I suppose I'll keep him.   Since we made it ourselves, I have no idea how many calories there are in it, but considering it's all I ate yesterday and I didn't lose any weight, I'm guessing it's not low-cal. 

The seasoning is very simple, but always reminds me of someone who was dear to me many years ago.  Aside from salt and pepper, the only thing else is a healthy portion of herbs de provence.  When I was very young at Christmas one year my parents got this crock of some seasoning.  It was huge.  It was more seasoning that I could imagine ever using. 

The person who gave it to us always had the knack of knowing what you needed, even if you didn't.  She died when I was in college, and I often think of her fondly, especially when I'm making soup.  Since the soup wouldn't be the same without the herbs de provence, I tracked down the same company and same large 5oz. crock and have my own now so I can make our mis-named vegetable soup for years to come.

The Big Boy Update:  Bath day again.  His skin seems to be handling the baths every two days well.  I scrubbed him again tonight and he doesn't seem to be trying as desperately to scratch himself as he was a few days ago.  I really hope his baby eczema is on the way out.  The areas where it seems his body is over it are all nice and baby-smooth now. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  First day in the jump seat.  She wants to stand up and sit up and look around so much lately we pulled out the jumping seat that you hook onto a door frame.  She really liked it.  She's too small and can't balance well in it, but leaning off to the side didn't seem to dampen her fun of being upright and in more control of her movement. 

Right-sizing counter:  20.3 pounds to go (darn, ate too much soup yesterday)

Contractual Obligation

Today is the day.  It's the day I make a commitment to lose some weight.  It was easy for a while, the weight was dropping off quickly after having my daughter and becoming active again.  The easy days are over. 

I've been trying for a few weeks to focus on eating appropriate amounts of food and getting exercise, but I'm not making any progress so I'm going to make a commitment and get serious.  I spoke with my husband, who also wants to lose some weight and we're going to do this together.  It's easier together because you can support each other, or commiserate with each other.

I needed to have something written down, some sort of, "today is the day and yes, I'm serious," so that I'll not give in to the Girl Scout Cookies in the pantry.  And I'm writing it down here, because even though I don't have many readers, you all will know I'm serious. 

My husband and I talked about how we can lose weight safely and in such a way that we can sustain over a period of time.  We decided we needed to drop alcohol.  I can drink now, but it's so many calories.  It's easier for both of us if we don't drink any at all instead of drinking less.  He's going to work drinking water with all meals.  I'm going to try and eat only at meals (I'm a big snacker.)

I'm going to add a little entry at the bottom of the posts that show how much more I have to go.  I may not do it every day, as some days I forget to myself.  We agreed to have an official "weigh-in" on Monday mornings to make sure we're on track.  Our goal is to lose a reasonable amount before bathing-suit season.  And that season may start at Easter if we decide to go visit my in-laws in Florida and swim in their pool. 

SO, let the weight-loss commence.


The Big Boy Update:  First day in the snow.  We had just a dusting last night that barely covered the ground but it's snow, and it's a new experience for him.  He liked to kneel in it, tried tasting it and was generally not bothered by the cold.  Perhaps he'll do his thesis in Antarctica on tolerances of cold when he's in grad school.


The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Rolling over.  She's trying to roll over more now.  She can make it half way, but then gets interested in the new position and stays there to look around.  She's also gotten very interested in her hands and spends lots of time looking at them

Right-sizing counter:  20.1 pounds to go

The Topic Bucket

When I set out to write this blog I was worried I wouldn't have anything to write about. I was so worried that I started a little file of blog topic ideas.  Any time I'd have an idea, I'd take a note or send myself an email and I'd add it to my topic list.

At this point, I have far more topics to write about than I ever would have guessed.  If only my days were less baby-packed, maybe I'd get two topics done in one go.  As it is, I don't think I'll be out of topics any time soon.

An interesting thing about blog post topics, they're sometimes time-sensitive.  Let's say I'm cooking something or out shopping.  I take a note and add the topic to the Topic Bucket.  The next day, not only does the topic sound dull, it sounds plain silly.  Some topics seem to be time-sensitive.  If you don't write about them right then, they lose their appeal.

On the other hand, some topics I keep meaning to get to and yet newer topics keep getting in the way.  It seems like the latest topic also seems to be the most pressing one.  The good news is, I don't fear that I won't have anything to write about anymore.  

Also, as an aside, SNOW!  Yeah, we finally got some.  It's floating down now  But it's above freezing, so it's not going to stick.  Still, snow made an appearance.  Spring can come now, my winter wish has been granted.

The Big Boy Update:  We changed his bath routine tonight.  He seems to be itchy all the time.  He had such bad baby eczema that we were advised to give him only one bath per week.  He loves baths, but we'd notice how red his skin got when he had one and how he needed more lotion and moisturizer to help hydrate his skin after a bath.  He seems to be beyond that now (I hope.)  Of late, when we'd change his diaper he'd scratch himself so badly he'd leave marks, no matter how closely we'd keep his nails filed and trimmed.  I realized tonight that if I only took one bath a week I'd itch terribly from all the dead skin and general funk of not being clean—and I don't smash my food all over my face or go to the bathroom in my pants.  It's got to be worse for him.  So starting today he's getting a bath every two days.  I scrubbed him good tonight.  This is a test run, skin behavior pending.  I'm rooting for a cleaner, less-itchy baby. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  I am so glad she was born second, and I'll tell you why.  My son was a good baby.  He wasn't colicky.  He sleeps through the night (with minor assistance.)  And other than his skin, he's just a great baby.  But looking back, I'm glad he was first because my daughter would make him look like a chore in comparison.   Firstly, she doesn't spit up.  He spit up lots, consistently, repeatedly, always, for two hours after every meal.  She eats and holds every meal down with little fuss.  He had cradle cap.  It's gross dandruffy stuff and it lasted for months and months.  She has a beautiful head with gorgeous hair, no extra maintenance required.  He would sometimes mess up a diaper just as you were changing a diaper.  We'd regularly have triple diaper changes.  She is polite and goes all at once, never pees on you and is respectful of the costly diapers.   He didn't need meals during the night after twelve weeks but he needed lots of help to get through the nigh and still does from time to time.  At a little over ten weeks she decided to sleep through the night.  So far, once asleep, she's good until morning.  It's so amazing I'm not sure I'm going to tell other first-time mothers how well she's done on her own.  And when she crys, it's always for a good reason.  We don't have to let her "cry it out" almost ever.  She's a great baby.  Yes, we know more with the second child, but she's doing all the hard work for us.

Your Personal Media Sphere

We live in a larger media sphere than our parents did.  Each morning, my mother reads the paper.  She enjoys the time reading and she gets caught up on what's happening locally.  My generation is a different story.

We live in a world that's much bigger than our local, physical, area.  Our "home region" is more an esoteric group of our peers.  These peers are people who may be anywhere on the globe, but subscribe to the same things we find cool, interesting or just topical.  They don't have to be local.  They don't even have to be regional.

When my parents come to have dinner, I turn on the evening news.  First, it's local news and then some national news follows.  There aren't any hyper links to go to the articles you find most interesting; you get what they want to show you—you get Mrs. Tisdale's backyard bee problem story. 

I don't care about Mrs. Tisdale, or her bees.  I want to know about the latest Sony technology innovation.  Sorry, you live near me, but you're not my biggest concern.  I sound terribly unpatriotic when I talk about this, but I think it's our generation.  We care about news that relates to us; not news that's close to us.

The Big Boy Update: Sticks and stones.  He loves outside.  He loves sticks.  He loves leaves.  He loves stones.  He hates being brought inside when he was outside.  Even if it's in the 30's. It's a nice day today.  He's on a walk around the block with my husband and he's checking out the flora (both dead and alive) and he's having lots of fun.  They've been gone a good while.  Hopefully I'll see them before dinner.


The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Crying is tiring.  She gets done eating sometimes before she's done eating.  If you put her down for a few minutes she'll change her mind, and she'll change it loudly.  Today when she decided she wanted more lunch, I was busy cleaning up from my lunch.  She cried with an additive of wail for about ten minutes.  When I came back to feed her she was focused and ready to eat.  When she was done, she was tired and ready to have a nap.  Sometimes crying can be a good thing.

Moms Don't Need Alarm Clocks

I remember being very young and waking up very early, running into my parents room to tell them about something so exciting (to me) and not understanding why they weren't awake.  It was morning!  As I was older, I'd watch hours of cartoons on Saturday before they even got out of bed.

With one baby, you have a chance that you'll be able to sleep in if your spouse will take care of the baby's needs for another hour.  With two, you never get to sleep late again.  Babies don't take weekends off from diaper changes and feedings. 

By now, I don't even need to set an alarm to wake up so that I'll beat the morning cry of, "where is the food" or "my diaper is dirty" in the language of baby crying.  Some days, I even wake up enough in advance that I can even wash myself and get breakfast before the changing, feeding and "play with me" day starts. 

Still, some of the best mornings are when one of our parents is visiting and insists on doing the morning shift.  There is never any argument from my husband or me when someone else wants to get up early.


The Big Boy Update:  Tricking him with food.  We introduce new foods to him all the time.  Today was avocado.  He immediately mushed it up and had no interest.  Then, my husband decided to put salad dressing (which he loves) on the avocado and reintroduce it to him later in the meal.  It worked and he liked it.  Sometimes changing the size (smaller or larger bites) or the presentation of a food item will help get him like something new.


The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  3-6 Months.  That's the new label I'm looking for on clothes from her baby shower gifts.  She's getting too big for the three-month clothes.  This morning I did a round of clothing retiring and brought lots of new cute items downstairs.  She's still a bit too small for many of the items, but after one wash and another week of growing she'll fit in them just fine.

The Blog Balance

In many ways, it's great to have an anonymous blog.  No one knows who you are, no one knows who you're talking about and you can say what you please.  And yet you want to let people you care about know you have a blog so you're not all alone out here, writing into the void. 

But it's a balance.  I don't want to tell everyone, "Hey, I have a blog.  I'm writing gut-wrenching, life changing diddys every day.  You gotta subscribe."  I don't want anyone to feel like they have to read what is, in reality, my little diary on the internet. 

I also don't want to feel I have to censor what I write just because someone is reading it.  And that includes any time in the future.  If, say, my very special fictional friend that thinks I love artichokes and brings me artichokes all the time reads this at any point in the future, I'd better make darn sure I've never said anything about how I hate artichoke marmalade.

So far, only three people know about this blog.  I'm debating on telling more.  Even so, I still keep in mind it's a balance, writing a blog and considering current and future audiences.  It's also nice to know people would care enough about you to even bother reading your little daily entries.  It warms my heart.


The Big Boy Update: He has a special talent.  He can light up a room in such a way that even when he's left, you know he's been there.  It's called poop.  Remember the trust your nose post?  Sometimes he's across the room, in his playpen.  We may not notice for a bit that he's in dire need of a diaper change.   Some days, I think it still smells like his poop in the closet with his toys an hour after he's been changed.   That's talent.


The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  I realized yesterday that we started with rice cereal at four months with my son.  She's only three weeks away from four months.  She seems so tiny and so young.  But she wants to sit up (with your assistance) all the time and she's trying to help with the bottle when she eats.  So hopefully she'll do well when we start adding in solids next month.  We're still working hard to get her to twenty four ounces most days.  Maybe some solid food will help.  I know she's growing, because she continues to outgrow outfits at an alarming rate.

Here's the Carrot for K

This is embarrassing.  But it's funny, so I'm going to tell it.  It's important to be able to laugh at yourself and not take things too seriously.  It helps you get through life with less stress.

Last night I was cleaning up the mess my son made from the day's toy carnage.  My mother was sitting with him as he played with these small stuffed items that each represent an item in the alphabet.  He's a bit too young for the toy, but he likes to put things into things.  This toy has one item for each letter of the alphabet (Banana for B, Train for T, etc.) and a sewn pouch for each letter. 

Usually he pulls them all out, tries to fit as many as possible into his mouth and then walks around holding as many as he can in his hands.  Twenty-six letter-pillows all over the place.  My mother was collecting them to zip them back up into the main container.  I said to her, "Are you just putting random letters in pouches?  Don't you know your alphabet?" 

Mom laughed and then, being the good sport that she is, began to put them in the right slots.  I looked under my leg and found the carrot pillow.  I said to her, "Here's the Carrot for K."  She said, "Carrot for what?  Who doesn't know their alphabet now!"


The Big Boy Update: Ahwoowoo.  He seems to be saying "ooo" to lots of things lately.  He talk to himself a lot, and seems to be communicating with objects and having a general conversation with himself.  Ahwoowoo is one of his favorite exclamations, explanations and general conversation starters.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  She's been arching her back a lot and rocking back and forth.  With my son, I thought he might be uncomfortable, but it was him trying to turn over.  She's definitely interested in turning herself over.  But from experience, I know it's not the position she's looking to change, but the ability to change the position.  She doesn't so much want to be on her stomach as she wants to be able to get to her stomach. 

Using Dashes

Ugh, you're thinking.  Using dashes?  What a boring post title.  I assure you, this is definitely a boring post if you're not into the nuances of punctuation.  I'll try harder to be more interesting tomorrow.  But just in case you either missed the day dashes were taught in school or don't remember how to use them correctly, this post is for you.

Yesterday's post had three dashes in it.  At the time, I was pretty sure I wasn't getting the dash I wanted.  But I was tired and I pressed the Publish button.  This morning, I looked up dashes and discovered that while I had them in the right place, with the right intent, I had the wrong type of dash.

I didn't even realize there were three types of dashes, and each has it's own specific usage:

- figure dash, used in telephone numbers and mathy things
– en dash, named for the letter width of the lowercase n
— em dash, named for the letter width of the capital M

The figure dash seems to be the only dash a keyboard has by default.  On my keyboard, the dash key (to the right of zero) is the same as the minus key.  Even though that's the dash the keyboard provides, I needed an em dash to use when writing.

An em dash can be used to indicate a break in thought or to set off an appositive from the rest of the sentence.  First off, I personally have a *lot* of breaks in thought.  I think I speak with appositives regularly, so knowing how to use them in writing will be a good thing.  Secondly, I learned a new word, appositive.  I love learning new words.

From writing in Word, I knew you could type two dashes--like so--and if there were no spaces between the surrounding words, the double dashes would be translated into an em dash.  But I had no idea how to do this here, and in HTML.  That's what I did yesterday in the post—I used a double dash in place of an em dash.

So I read up on how to get other dashes included in my post.  As it turns out, it's pretty easy, as long as you don't mind a little HTML.  You just add — or – where you want the dash to appear.  Easy.  Today, not only do I have yesterday's post corrected, but I'll be able to use dashes correctly in the future.  And to think I used to hate English.

The Big Boy Update: He walks funny.  And when I say that, I mean he walks on the inside edge of his feet.  Some shoes make him look like he's a clown walking.  I'm guessing this is a phase as his legs and feet develop, but it would be nice to encourage good posture with footwear if we can.  Today we found him some flat-soled sandals that he looks "cool" in.  He ran around in them when we put them on, so hopefully he'll be walking straighter soon.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:   She doesn't sleep if she doesn't want to.  There is really no napping if she's has set her mind to being awake.  She blew through the morning with no nap, complained about why food service wasn't earlier than normal and then didn't have enough room to eat a whole meal when she did get to eat a early.  But she's now decided it's nap time.  Nap time is good.

If You Think You Smell Poo—You Do

Do not question the nose.   After months of changing diapers, it is finely honed to tell you when your child has made a great big stinky mess.  I can be across the room working here, at the computer, and get a vague whiff.  I look over at my son who is playing happily—too happily—with his toys.  Am I imagining it?  Time and time again, my nose has proven me right.  It's time for a diaper change.

My husband still questions my nose from time to time.  Unless there is gas in question (which usually means there's a diaper change to follow shortly,) it turns out I have a pretty reliable sniffer.  When I was pregnant, it was even more honed.  There's something about being pregnant that makes all your senses a little more acute.  I'm no longer pregnant, but I can still sniff messy baby pants from a good clip.

So today, I was working at the computer.  My daughter was sleeping soundly, hadn't moved in a good while from the swing thing she sleeps in when in the basement.  I got a whiff and looked over.  Nope, she's not awake and she's not looking anything other than serene.  Can't be.  Thirty minutes later I get a second waft of something baby-foul.  Must be my imagination.

An hour later, my mother arrives and I start to prepare for dinner.  I tell her to let me know when the baby wakes up and I'll change her and feed her.   In a few minutes she calls up and says "you'd better get down here, she's wet this thing all the way through."  Ugh. All the way through means the diaper and outfit, right?  Nope, it means the whole swing seat thing.  The thing that I don't even know how to remove to wash.  Oh fun.

The baby needed a bath.  She was dirty all the way up to her belly button.  She got dirtier in other places when we got the clothes off her.  She wasn't particularly upset though.  That's my girl.  After she's cleaned and my mother is feeding her, I figure out that I can remove and wash the swing cover which was not only damp, but was wet all the way to the plastic underneath and smelled lovely.

The swing seat was on it's second baby and hadn't ever been washed so it was definitely due for a cleaning.  All is clean and happy now; but I won't doubt my nasal integrity again.

The Big Boy Update:  He's not good in the high chair or restaurant after he's done eating.  It means we can't go out with him for a dinner that's very long without annoying everyone around us.  I don't want that.  I never liked hearing a child be annoying near me so I don't expect other people to like it either.  We're working on having him a) not drop food on the floor just because there's a dog there sometimes and b) because he's full or he wants something else.  I hope he's too young to understand and that we've not let him make bad habits.  Tonight at dinner he played with some toys while he sat at his highchair after eating.  It went over well.  He was entertained and quiet.  I packed some small toys in the go bag for future meals out.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Reaction smiling.  If you smile at her, she smiles back.  It makes you keep smiling.  But if you stop, and then re-smile at her, she'll smile and giggle and coo at you again.  My husband figured this out.  Today we got a great video of her at her most adorable and charming.

The Laundry Evolution

I'm doing it again, I was going to talk about interesting things in this blog.  Or rather, I was going to try and write about interesting things.  I'm afraid however, my life just isn't that interesting.  Today I'm thinking about laundry.  About how much there is now and how frequently it needs to be done in comparison to two babies ago. 

I love having all the laundry clean.  Starting it, finishing it and getting it all folded and up on the same day, before you've even had the chance to put what you're wearing into the hamper.  Alas, that's not possible anymore.

We used to separate out lights and darks.  We could wait a week to do laundry and have one big day of laundry.  But little bitty clothes need to be cleaned faster than that.  And their clothes are so small that there isn't enough to separate out into color batches. 

The color separation thing is what's most frustrating.  Babies grow out of brand new clothes in weeks or months.  These new clothes are nice and colorful, haven't been washed and still bleed in the wash.  For the first nine months I watched as whites and light clothes got steadily dingier until I was hoping my son would grow out of them.  Then, I saw a commercial for these "color catcher" things you put in the laundry.  They do work as advertised, and they keep our laundry nice and bright and white. 

The Big Boy Update:  My husband wanted to try baby sign language again with him today.  We tried some signs when he was seven to nine months, but he didn't catch on well.  He's much better at mimicking physical things than sounds so this may be a better way to communicate until he's got more words.  He picked up the sign for "more" during lunch.  We'll see if he remembers it tomorrow.  I tried "cookie" as he loves cookies.  I thought a high-value item might make him pay more attention.  I think he may have tried to sign it back, updates as we get them on the signing front.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Meals in a single setting.  She's getting much, much better at eating her meals in one setting instead of two, three or even four rounds of milk for a single meal.  Today she ate all he meals this way.  She's also getting more and more alert.  We went out to have a late birthday dinner with friends.  I expected her to sleep the whole time.  Instead, she was awake and wanted to be in someone's lap, sitting up (being propped up in a sitting position) so she could look around.  She was awake so much today, I expect she'll have a good night's sleep tonight.

I May Have Found My Mind

For a while after having my second child, I thought I'd lost my mind.  Not literally, of course, it's still lodged inside my skull.  But I wasn't sure which end was up some days and I felt like the whole "normalcy" of my life had been disrupted.

A had gotten accustomed to not having my day to myself with my first child, but there were bits of my day that I could call my own--like when he was napping or asleep for the night.  Then I had child number two. 

You learn quickly after having a child that it's not all about you anymore.  If you were a selfish person; wait, that sounds bad--if you cherished your day being something you controlled and filled with things you wanted to do or accomplish, then having a baby will quickly change your expectations.   It seems that babies regularly, no constantly, rearrange your schedule to fit their needs.  They pay you back in cuteness and love.  It's all worth it, but it takes some getting used to.

So, foolishly, you think two babies could be twice the cute and twice the fun.  Nine months later you realize you have no time at all and you're constantly running just to keep up so that you can go to bed exhausted.   For the first several weeks I have to admit I was somewhat resentful that I didn't have a little time to myself.  

But I've adjusted.  I love it and I even think I've found my mind at this point.  Someday, perhaps when they're in college, I'll have some time back.  Until then, I'll enjoy being a parent and being tired.


The Big Boy Update:  Today was the first day he went to Mimi and Gramps' house as a crawling/walking baby.  The last time he was there he just sat in the car seat.  Mimi has been collecting baby toys (entanglement devices) for just such an occasion.  He had fun hiding behind the counter in the kitchen to be "found" and sitting on Mimi's lap and banging on the piano keys.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Baby Bumbo.   She has a Bumbo seat, and despite some recent bad press, we love it.  She's wanting to sit up more now and she'll be happy for long periods sitting up in the Bumbo seat.  She's safely on the carpeted floor and she's right in front of me, so she's safe as kittens.  She's very cute flexing and curling her toes alternately as she looks around and bobbles both her head and her torso.

Where Does My Money Go?

Bills, food, gas--obviously.  But where does the majority of my money go on other things?  I got to thinking about it recently and there are just a handful of places I spend my money.  These are big retailers who have made a business of being the biggest, best and easiest for the consumers to find what they're looking for and get in and out quickly.  And they've done their job very well.

Baby stores are on the top of the list.  Target because, hey, they have almost anything you need.  We're there twice a week easy.  Babies-R-Us too.  They have better deals on some things in bulk (good coupons too) and a bigger selection.  Those two stores probably get the majority of my local consumer cash.

Then there's Amazon.  I love the Prime membership.  If I can wait two days, why bother going out in the car when I can order an item at three in the morning and it'll show up two days later?  I was just looking at my credit card bill and Amazon Marketplace has more charges on there than anything else.  They're small charges, but the frequency with which I purchase things on Amazon is amazing.

It's not only baby things, but books, cooking things, presents for our friends (we all have Amazon wish lists lest you be shunned,) movies, music.  You name it.  I do love Amazon.com

So, these few retailers are getting the majority of my money.  They've made it easy to shop and the experience either local or online is pleasant.

The Big Boy Update: Croupy Cough.  Yesterday there was a strange noise coming from his room while he slept.  It was a low cough, something we'd never heard before so we didn't realize what it was at first.  Today, the cough is worse, lower and sounds very raspy.  It sounds dry but is accompanied by a fun, runny nose.  We're debating calling the doctor but since he has no worrisome signs like fever or lack of appetite, we're going to let him work through it a bit longer.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Those blasted fingers.  She can find her fingers so easily now.  She's so happy with one, two, or even three in her mouth.  She can find her fingers even when there's a pacifier in her mouth.  You know, because you hear slurping and sucking sounds from across the room.  Writing this post I've gotten up four times to reinsert the pacifier.  Two days ago I ordered some "stay on" mittens" from Amazon.  They should arrive today.  Hopefully tonight we'll see if she makes it through to morning with the mittens on.

The Composting Complication

Many years ago I didn't recycle.  We had a recycle program in the area, but it was unwieldy and required lots of work on the consumer's end.  I don't know if it was capricious youth, laziness or just a complete disregard for Mother Nature, but I could be heard saying "I recycle via landfills."  How dreadful.

These days it makes me happy to see so much of our total waste go out to the curb in the recycling bins.  I try to be a good citizen and recycle what I can.  There's a "within reason" added there.  I believe it's important not to waste more fossil fuels driving across town to recycle something that has one tenth the value of the fuel expended.  But we're quite fortunate that our recycling collects most things and it's quite easy for us to recycle.

The one area we completely fail is in the composting realm.  I look at all the food we throw away and I wish we had a better alternative.  There's first the small dog issue.  And out stupidity in figuring out that composting won't work anywhere near the house.  She can sniff out even the most boring foods at great distances.  We don't have a fence and we're in an empty neighborhood so the dog has free reign. An alternative would be a composting bin/fenced area.  We have lots of deer and apparently small coyotes that are indigenous.  They'd make a grand mess of most solutions.

What I do try to do is compost anything that won't be a direct attractor for our dog or local fauna such as peelings, shells or other non-edible but bio-degradable items.  Maybe in the future we'll be able to compost more.  For now, it's the disposal or trash if that's not an option.   Hopefully we'll be able to be better citizens in the coming years with regards to composting.


The Big Boy Update:  Toy rearrangement.  Old toys, in a new location or in a new configuration magically become new toys.  I spent the last day taking toys from the bedroom to the basement to the toy closet and back and finding new ways to stick toys in other toy containers.  Today, he's so happy.  He's got a whole new land of toys to play with. 


The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Her feeding is a bit more regular.  She's getting better at eating her full meal with only one or two stops to burp or think about her level of fullness.  She's still a little difficult to work with, so for the most part, my husband and I do her feedings. 

There's Nothing Like A (blah blah blah)

Are there things in your life that just make you feel relaxed, or contented, knowing they're done?  Some examples might be: "there's nothing like an empty laundry basket" or "there's nothing like clean sheets on the bed" or "there's nothing like an empty inbox."  The little pleasures.

Or maybe it's the little relaxers.  Things that nag at you, but aren't so pressing that they're weighing you down.  I think my life is filled with these little things; things that make my mind be more at ease when they're done. 

Tonight it was "there's nothing like a restocked refrigerator."  We have an old refrigerator in the garage and we keep all kinds of overage items in it.  Over time, we need to restock.  The garage isn't far away, but it's usually a large enough list that I make some notes on a scrap piece of paper and then do a lot of little runs from the garage to the main refrigerator depositing items.  It's a little thing, but looking in at the well-stocked refrigerator when I'm done just gives me a sense of satisfaction. 

I'm that way with a lot of things at the end of the day.  My mother always made me "police the area" before going to bed.  I was responsible for putting everything up and setting the house "to rights" before I could go to my room at night.   It was so annoying when I was growing up.  Now, it's the thing that relaxes me the most at the end of the day; knowing that I'll wake up and not have yesterday's work to catch up on before I start the new day. 


The Big Boy Update: He is becoming more outgoing every day.  At Kindermusik today he ran around the room and interacted with children.  This is the room he stood mute in for months while he absorbed the people, environment and activity.  Even one of the other moms (with a quiet child) commented today.  I told her he was introverted until he knew the environment and I'm sure her son, Emmanuel, would open up in short order too.


The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  She's getting bigger.  I'm having fun putting her into the three month baby clothes now.  It's like shopping when you get to go into the closet and pick out adorable items from the baby shower.  Today she got to wear three outfits.  Three because two were spit up on.  The third she's had on most of the day.  It's flower bell bottoms and it's all kinds of cute. 

So Many Stairs

Many years ago I lived in a ranch house.  When I moved into a two-story house I thought I wouldn't make it through the first two weeks climbing stairs.  I didn't think I was in terrible shape; in fact, I'd lost a decent bit of weight packing and moving us in.  But those blasted stairs would wind me--even when I wasn't tired.

Three weeks after moving in I realized I didn't notice the stairs anymore.  My body had gotten accustomed to the specific activity of climbing stairs versus doing other types of physical activity.  In this house I seem to be climbing stairs more than ever.  And while I'm used to stairs, after fifty flights in a day, I'm tired. I blame the basement.  Or maybe it's the children. 

I don't know how you count flights of stairs.  If you climb up a flight and then go back down them, is that two flights?  You traversed a flight of stairs twice.  You "climb three flights to your dentist's office" and you "have to go down four flights of stairs because the elevator was out of service."  So if I go up two and then back down two, do I get credit for four flights?

I eagerly look at the scale in the morning to see the results of all this stairing.  Okay, I anxiously look at the scale.  Still, it's not moving in a rapidly downward fashion.   So, I'm going to have to either do more stair climbing or add something else to my daily calorie-burning routine. 


The Big Boy Update:  He throws food.   He loves to eat.  Loves food.  But he drops a lot and some of it is intentional over the side of the chair.  At what age should I be correcting this?  I suppose I should start now, but I want to find out how to do it in a positive way.  I'm going to ask my mom expert friend for advice.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  So interactive.  When she's awake, she loves to interact with people.  She smiles, coos, wants to look at you and hold her head up on your shoulder.  She doesn't demand to be held like I've heard some babies do, but she does want to have a human to look at and do her baby-best to communicate with.

How To Slow Down Time

Have you ever looked at the clock and thirty minutes have gone by when it only feels like three?  Or you can't believe it's the afternoon because it seems like you just got out of the shower?  Or the deadline for that project is coming up and you have far more to do than time in which to do it?  Never fear, I've discovered how to slow down time -- put something in the microwave. 

Two minutes seems like such a short time.  I stick the bowl to warm in the microwave and start the two minutes.  Then I get some things done while I wait for the dish to heat up.  I'll put the dishes in the dishwasher, take some clean clothes into the bedroom for folding, get a drink from the refrigerator, ask my husband a question and then look over at the microwave, only to find there's still forty eight seconds left.  It happens all the time.  I know I'm not that efficient or fast because when the microwave isn't on, the day goes by so fast and I still have things to do.

So, I've got an idea for an invention.  All we need is some item we can put in the microwave that won't melt or explode.  Then, when you need a little extra time, you can put the microwave on for an hour or two thus allowing you to get seven or eight hours of work accomplished.  Now that would be a good invention.

The Big Boy Update:  Back in track pants.   He's looking so slim these days.  People are commenting on how he's not nearly as fat as he was a few months ago.  He's growing tall too.  His current track pants are getting too short so I got some new ones yesterday.  Today he looked both comfortable and stylish.  Not to mention fit and trim.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Two nights now she's slept with her mittens on.  She's not been nearly as upset as I thought she would be considering she's being denied access to her hands for sucking.  She's still trying during the day.  Whenever she goes for her fingers it means it's time for more food.  She's also eating fairly well too.   She's a good girl. 

My Birthday Alone

I've never been big on celebrating my birthday.  Although, I'm all about throwing a big party for someone else, someone who wants to celebrate.  I'm not upset about my age, I'm not avoiding the day.  It seems like I tell people my age on a regular basis.  A while back my husband thought I was one year older because I'd mentioned that I was almost that age multiple times.  And no, he didn't get in trouble when he did it; heck, it was probably my fault.

I have one birthday that I remember fondly.  I was teaching a class in Munich with another instructor.  We were hours ahead of the US and by the time the work day was over people in the US hadn't contacted me by email to wish me a happy birthday.  This was before the days of Facebook or other social networking sites.

So by dinner time, I had had a happy day teaching (good course, great students) and we decided to go out to a nice restaurant as a class.  Seventeen people at one long table, fantastic food (I love German food) and some drinks with dessert and not one person there knew it was my birthday.  But I was happy and having a great time.

Sometimes it's not about having the attention on you on your birthday, it's just about having a good day.  That was a great birthday even though no one said "happy birthday" to me all day. 

This year we're watching the Super Bowl.  I've made a roast and my mother is bringing over a cake from the grocery store with that inch-thick fluffy white icing.  Even though my husband makes wonderful cakes and can decorate them beautifully, that's what I wanted.   But... he surprised me and brought me breakfast in bed.  Biscuitville!  I love Biscuitville.  We moved farther away from the restaurant so it's a longer drive and I rarely go anymore.  What a delight.   My in-laws are here.  Uncle Jon is here and one of our best friends is also coming over.  So it's one of those "good days."

It's definitely been a happy birthday.


The Big Boy Update:  Tomato sauce carnage.  He loves tomato sauce.  Loves it all over his body when he eats.  It's acidic and makes his face and arms all red and rashy.  It's hard to keep it off his skin when the alternative is to get his clothes stained.  So he eats and then we put anti-itch lotion on him.  He's a great eater, especially when it's pasta.


The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  She's kicking right now, cooing and smiling.  She is so social when she's been fed and is in someone's arms.  She makes the biggest smiles and has these great sounds to go with it.  I've been trying to videotape it, but she doesn't preform apparently.

The Cup and The Cake

For Movie Night this Friday we celebrated Shealyn's eighth birthday.  I asked her mother what she liked and we went for strawberry cake with strawberries between the layers.  Now you should know that when I say "we," what I mean is my husband did all the cake making and decorating and I just gave advice (weather he wanted it or not.)

We heard Shealyn was very into Harry Potter and princesses right now.  After looking online for Harry Potter cake themes, only to find amazing 200+ hour professional cakes or unexciting crest-themes, we went with the Princess theme.

My husband outdid himself.  Click on the photo to see the detail he put into the dress.  The 3D princess on top had a real doll torso decorated in rose petal pink and purple.  Shealyn even had a tiara to wear for the song and candle blowing out and then there was wand to remember the cake by.

Suffice it to say, the cake was a big hit.  We found out afterwards that she'd always wanted a doll cake.  Way to go daddy!

My birthday is this weekend too.  I didn't want to have the focus on me.  I'm getting a cake on Sunday any way.  So my husband made me a cupcake and put a candle in it.  Not just any cupcake, a mini-cupcake.  He iced it and put Happy Birthday in teenie tiny writing on it too.   My little cupcake was very good.  And also very thoughtful.

The Big Boy Update: There's a monster upstairs.  His room is over ours; in the morning when he wakes up he stands up and moves around his crib.  It sounds like a monster is upstairs stomping around.   But as long as there's no crying to go along with the stomping it's good news; that means he's entertaining himself until breakfast time.   This morning he had oatmeal for breakfast.  I was feeding him the oatmeal with a big spoon and he was sticking his baby spoon into the bowl.  He figured out that you put the spoon in the bowl and then feed the other person.  So he tried to feed me while I fed him.  Too cute.  Too fun.  Too messy.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Fighting the food.  She has been fighting the bottle lately.  I'm not sure if it's gas or some other cause, but she will violently shake her head and thrust her tongue out during meals.  Her brother was never that way, even if he was gassy.  So, we're keeping on top of the gas drops and giving her breaks after eating parts of her meal and burping her lots.  She eventually comes around and eats it all.  Perhaps I'm not being patient enough.  Lack of patience is one of my many faults.

Tidy As You Go

Tidy as you go is a cleaning tip my mother told me time and time again when I was young.  If you're cooking or working on a craft item or doing anything that involves making a mess, if you clean up as you go, the mess usually is almost gone by the time you're done.

No where else is this more helpful in the kitchen.  If you're short on counter space, or you have time between steps in what you're cooking, put the things you're done with away or clean them as you have the time.  To me, there's nothing more satisfying than having the kitchen completely cleaned up when the meal is ready.  You can sit down to eat knowing you don't have lots of work to do after you're done eating.

I've lived by "Tidy as you go" all my adult life.  I hated it as a child, but now I fully embrace it.  I plan on passing this phrase down to my children when they're older.


The Big Boy Update:  No concept of cold.  He likes the ice machine.  It's under the cabinet and he's figured out how to open the door, reach in and get a piece of ice.  Usually he drops it on the floor and it puddles up, he steps in it or sits in it.  So, normally he doesn't get to explore the ice machine for that long.  Last night I thought I'd see how long he'd keep at it.  Twenty minutes later he still hadn't taken one hand out  of the ice and had eaten several pieces.  He was completely entertained, and apparently not cold at all.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Keeping her fingers out of her mouth in during the night is going to continue to be a challenge.  She can keep her fingers in just fine, but a pacifier (which she seems to like just fine) falls out just about the time you think she's keeping hold of it.  It's not much of a problem during the day, it only seems to appear at night.  If I can get her very full, she goes to sleep with nothing.  But in the middle of the night she wakes up and uses her fingers to self-soothe back to sleep.

Your Mental Size

I've heard many times that people who are trying to lose weight sometimes have a hard time because their mental size of themselves is larger than their target weight.  They see themselves as overweight, so even if they lose the weight, they return to a larger size due to mental image. 

I've always been relatively thin.  Not too thin, but never pudgy or overweight.  I could eat whatever I wanted.  I didn't appreciate that until I hit thirty.  Then things slowed down with my metabolism or maybe I just got more hungry.  I thought at first that my pants had shrunk, but no, I had gained weight.  I never even owned a scale until I was over thirty.  I had to figure out what my target weight was even suppose to be.

I went on a diet, did a good job and at a certain point realized I needed to stop because I was losing weight in places I didn't want to lose weight.  So, now I know what I should weigh to be a healthy right-sized person.  But I don't weigh that now by a good number of pounds.  I'm not fretting over it, it'll come off, it's doable.  It's just not what I currently weigh.

Back to my point of what your mental image is of your size.  I've started exercising using the Kinect on the XBox.  I do these dance things and at the end it takes a picture of you in the "finishing move" which is all kinds of silly, but hey, it's exercise.  Every time I think "who is that fat person in the picture?  That's not me!"   I'm thinking this means my mental image of myself is lower weight than I currently am.  If so, hopefully not only can I lose the weight, but I'll be able to keep it off. 

The Big Boy Update:  No napping for me. Yesterday he refused to nap.  This happens with one nap of the day sometimes, but never two.  He just didn't want to sleep.  This does not bode well for later in the day when he's out of energy, hungry and melts down.  But last night he pushed through it at the restaurant, spent a lot of time trying to interact with the baby at the next table and didn't fall asleep on the way home for his final bottle of milk and bed at his regular time.  He slept an extra half-hour this morning.  Ahhh, the quiet morning.  So rare.  So treasured. 

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Not the thumb!  She's found her thumb several times.  At first, they indicate they're hungry by trying to get anything into their mouth.  Their hands find their way there commonly and lots of sucking sounds are heard while they try to find the milk.  Eventually, the baby finds a thumb.  The first time it's so cute.  The baby looks so blissfully happy that something just the right size for sucking is now in her mouth.  But I'd rather her prefer a pacifier.  That can be removed later.  She's getting more skilled now with her hands.  She seems to prefer the middle and fourth fingers.  She cried this morning before breakfast and then stopped.  I should have known.  When I went up at nine, she was happily sucking on those two fingers.  I woke her up (she smiled) and carried her downstairs.  Before we were even at the bottom of the stairs she had the two fingers back in her mouth.  So we're at high alert for pacifier insertion opportunities now.

When Does Something New Become Old?

You know that feeling you have when you get something new that you're very excited about?  Say it's a new phone.  You want to make sure nothing happens to it.  You want to preserve its newness, keep it in the perfect condition it was when you bought it.   The first time something happens to it like some dirt gets on it you overreact and get out the cotton swabs and alcohol to clean it.  You blow on it and then fret that dirt might have gotten into the port and it'll never be the same again.

But at some point, that item becomes "old."  It becomes old in our minds.  It's like your current phone that you've had for a long time that's all scratched up and dirty.  If more dirt gets on it, "meh, it's old, these things happen."  So when does that shiny, new item get old in our minds?

Today I was putting something back into the refrigerator and I realized the glass shelf was covered in drinking cup rings, debris and something sticky.  Didn't I just wipe off the shelves?  Since the refrigerator is still "new" in my mind, I cleaned off the shelves.  At what point will I not care about the shelves being clean?  When will the refrigerator become "old?"

The Big Boy Update:  This morning he learned he can drop things through the railings on the second floor and they drop to the first floor and make a loud sound on the floor.  I was hoping he wouldn't figure that out.  He likes to throw things down, especially if it's his food, and the dog is below his high chair.  We're going to have to watch him more carefully until this phase passes like the crazy stair-climbing phase did.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  This morning she woke up at 7:15.  She wasn't easily calming back down so I brought her into the bed with me and held her.  Since she usually sleeps until close to nine, or, she wakes up and entertains herself in the crib without help, I decided holding her for an hour or so couldn't hurt.  At this point my son has no interest in being held or cuddled.  I don't want to make a bad habit, but I hate to miss this sweet time with her.  After thirty minutes she fell asleep and I could get up and get mommy morning things done before feeding her.