I've never had to try to go to sleep. For the most part, I lie down and go right to sleep. Sure, there have been times when I'm sick or hyped up about something, but in general, I don't have a problem just falling to sleep.
Many years ago I had a friend who said he had had such a hard time going to sleep the night before. He said he was, "thinking of nothing" for so long but he still couldn't fall asleep. Thinking of nothing? I'd never heard of that. I asked him what he meant. He said he cleared his mind and just thought of nothing until he fell asleep.
I didn't believe him. How can you think of nothing? It's not possible. As soon as you clear out the current thoughts, your mind throws in something else to think about. He said it was possible. I still don't know. Since that time, almost twenty years ago, I don't believe I've ever been able to, "think of nothing."
The Big Boy Update: Family picture album. My husband made a family picture album for my son yesterday. It's got pictures of the two children, the dog and all four grandparents for a start. We're seeing if he knows who they are, and if he can name them. "doggiedoggie" is the one he gets correct without fail. The rest of us are a work in progress with sporadic results.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Toothy grin. Her two lower front teeth are now becoming more visible when she smiles, which is all the time, and non-stop. I would seriously write about how adorable, cute, charming and endearing she is here every day, but even I'd get sick of it. Still, can I just say...super cute.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
CRANKY
What is up with me? I am just cranky today. I'm not overtly cranky, but I feel like I'm not polite and I'm overly critical of everything—especially when it's people who are trying to help me.
I dislike me when I'm like that. I get angry at myself. I vow to be better. I do things like this daily because, hell, if you don't keep trying to improve yourself, you might as well give up on life. Okay, that's harsh, but I do believe it's important to never stop growing personally.
Back to the crank. For some reason it's cranked up today. I feel like my hunger level is cranked up, my food consumption is cranked up and therefore my feeling of not successfully maintaining my weight is cranked up. Not to mention that I just feel cranky.
How will I combat this? By never giving up and not letting the day be a full waste. I'm going running with a friend shortly and hopefully will have a better outlook at that point. My mother is here and her day is going worse. Her car battery is completely dead and she has to have her car towed. Don't you hate when days go like that? It sounds like a tow truck is on the way so maybe her day will be better soon.
The kids are a good/bad thing when your day isn't going well. The cute, funny and sweet things they do help, but the crying and throwing and not napping makes it ever so much worse.
The Big Boy Update: Honk honk, mash smash. Buttons. He loves buttons. Today we were moving cars around in the driveway—yes, we are just that exciting some days—and he wanted to get into the cars. He tried to turn the wheels, mash the buttons and even turned off one of the cars at one point. I kept my foot on the brake the whole time, just in case, you know.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Today is a day of spit up. I'm not sure why, but she's been spitting up a lot. She's making sure we go through the full rotation of bibs. She's even tried out a few of her brother's.
I dislike me when I'm like that. I get angry at myself. I vow to be better. I do things like this daily because, hell, if you don't keep trying to improve yourself, you might as well give up on life. Okay, that's harsh, but I do believe it's important to never stop growing personally.
Back to the crank. For some reason it's cranked up today. I feel like my hunger level is cranked up, my food consumption is cranked up and therefore my feeling of not successfully maintaining my weight is cranked up. Not to mention that I just feel cranky.
How will I combat this? By never giving up and not letting the day be a full waste. I'm going running with a friend shortly and hopefully will have a better outlook at that point. My mother is here and her day is going worse. Her car battery is completely dead and she has to have her car towed. Don't you hate when days go like that? It sounds like a tow truck is on the way so maybe her day will be better soon.
The kids are a good/bad thing when your day isn't going well. The cute, funny and sweet things they do help, but the crying and throwing and not napping makes it ever so much worse.
The Big Boy Update: Honk honk, mash smash. Buttons. He loves buttons. Today we were moving cars around in the driveway—yes, we are just that exciting some days—and he wanted to get into the cars. He tried to turn the wheels, mash the buttons and even turned off one of the cars at one point. I kept my foot on the brake the whole time, just in case, you know.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Today is a day of spit up. I'm not sure why, but she's been spitting up a lot. She's making sure we go through the full rotation of bibs. She's even tried out a few of her brother's.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
The Jolly Rancher Syndrome
When I was a child I loved Jolly Rancher candies. I still do. But I know they're a candy with a price. They come in large bags of little individually-wrapped candies. The sour green apple is like sour heaven in your mouth,.
They taste so good, when you're done with one you start on another one. Twelve candies later you realize you need to stop eating them. A short while later, you realize you can't. You can't, because there's a taste in your mouth that says the only thing that will make the bad leftover flavor go away is more Jolly Rancher.
It's a candy come-down. It's a post-consumption anti-flavor that sticks around and makes you both want more while causing you to reconsider having any the next time.
There are other foods that exhibit this same after-effect, like, funyons, spicy salsa and for me, anything too garlicy. Some foods at this point I just avoid all together due to their persistent, hard to get rid of aftertaste.
The Big Boy Update: The Age of Thrilled. He's just so thrilled about everything. Everything is exciting; everything is fun. If they could bottle him up, he would be a great anti-depressant.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Navigating the iPad. I had her on the floor while I folded laundry. She was interested in what was on the iPad as it was a PBS kids show. I propped it up beside her. She pressed her foot and hand against it and changed what was happening with what seemed to be some sort of deliberateness for the next fifteen minutes. Unlike her brother, who is obsessed with the exit button, she never left the app. He can't manage to stay in an app longer than thirty seconds because he's button-obsessed.
They taste so good, when you're done with one you start on another one. Twelve candies later you realize you need to stop eating them. A short while later, you realize you can't. You can't, because there's a taste in your mouth that says the only thing that will make the bad leftover flavor go away is more Jolly Rancher.
It's a candy come-down. It's a post-consumption anti-flavor that sticks around and makes you both want more while causing you to reconsider having any the next time.
There are other foods that exhibit this same after-effect, like, funyons, spicy salsa and for me, anything too garlicy. Some foods at this point I just avoid all together due to their persistent, hard to get rid of aftertaste.
The Big Boy Update: The Age of Thrilled. He's just so thrilled about everything. Everything is exciting; everything is fun. If they could bottle him up, he would be a great anti-depressant.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Navigating the iPad. I had her on the floor while I folded laundry. She was interested in what was on the iPad as it was a PBS kids show. I propped it up beside her. She pressed her foot and hand against it and changed what was happening with what seemed to be some sort of deliberateness for the next fifteen minutes. Unlike her brother, who is obsessed with the exit button, she never left the app. He can't manage to stay in an app longer than thirty seconds because he's button-obsessed.
Monday, May 28, 2012
Want To Buy: Unscroll
My iPad has a feature I am very fond of. If you're scrolled down in an email, or a web page or document, you can click at the top of the screen and it will automatically scroll you all the way back to the top.
There's no PC equivalent. I'm stuck pressing page up multiple times in some applications, having to find and use the scroll bar in other applications and trying the mouse wheel all over the place to see if it will send me back to the top.
It's such a nice, consistent feature. I miss it when I'm working on the computer. I love my computer, my big monitor, my extra quiet keyboard and the speed with which I can do work in multiple applications at the same time, but Apple's elegant interface solutions still make me miss my iPad, even when I'm at the PC.
The Big Boy Update: He's almost eighteen months now and the things I could write here would make up enough content to merit its own blog. He is very interested in showing his sister how things work. He brings her toys, shoves them in her face and tries to demonstrate how to play with them. If she's unhappy he brings her a pacifier and tries to shove it in her mouth, sometimes successfully. He sits with her and sometimes holds her hand. Yesterday he did a pacifier swap with her. I don't know if he was upgrading his or hers, most likely his. He decided the laundry needed to be done so he drug the laundry basket across the house. It ended up near his high chair, but it's a start. And best of all, he discovered rain yesterday. He was on the deck and it started to rain heavily, suddenly. We came in but he stood in the door and it landed on him. He pointed up and then patted his head. We discussed rain. Then I sent him out on the porch in his diaper and let him run around excited. He'd go out into the rain, then squeal and run back under. Eighteen months is a fun age.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: When she's tired and you put her in her crib, the big tell she has that she's ready to nap or sleep is when she lifts both her legs straight up and falls over on her side. When that happens, she's going to be asleep in a minute or less.
There's no PC equivalent. I'm stuck pressing page up multiple times in some applications, having to find and use the scroll bar in other applications and trying the mouse wheel all over the place to see if it will send me back to the top.
It's such a nice, consistent feature. I miss it when I'm working on the computer. I love my computer, my big monitor, my extra quiet keyboard and the speed with which I can do work in multiple applications at the same time, but Apple's elegant interface solutions still make me miss my iPad, even when I'm at the PC.
The Big Boy Update: He's almost eighteen months now and the things I could write here would make up enough content to merit its own blog. He is very interested in showing his sister how things work. He brings her toys, shoves them in her face and tries to demonstrate how to play with them. If she's unhappy he brings her a pacifier and tries to shove it in her mouth, sometimes successfully. He sits with her and sometimes holds her hand. Yesterday he did a pacifier swap with her. I don't know if he was upgrading his or hers, most likely his. He decided the laundry needed to be done so he drug the laundry basket across the house. It ended up near his high chair, but it's a start. And best of all, he discovered rain yesterday. He was on the deck and it started to rain heavily, suddenly. We came in but he stood in the door and it landed on him. He pointed up and then patted his head. We discussed rain. Then I sent him out on the porch in his diaper and let him run around excited. He'd go out into the rain, then squeal and run back under. Eighteen months is a fun age.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: When she's tired and you put her in her crib, the big tell she has that she's ready to nap or sleep is when she lifts both her legs straight up and falls over on her side. When that happens, she's going to be asleep in a minute or less.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Mindful Eating
A while back, I had a friend that invited me to a, "Mindful Eating" presentation at a local Whole Foods market. I had no idea what mindful eating was. I guessed it was minding that you don't eat too much fatty foods, or that processed sugars are bad for you or that you need more vegetables in your diet.
It wasn't that at all. It was a valuable, and free, hour at the grocery store. The presenter told us to go get our food from the buffet or anything else you wanted. It didn't matter what or how much you got, just go and get your meal.
When we got back she said, "We are now going to eat a meal in silence. We're going to focus on the food and be mindful of what we're eating." Huh?
But it made sense. She explained that we have put such emphasis on food in our society that we can make food more important than it should be. We can agonize over what we are or aren't eating. We can eat food so quickly that we don't even think about what we're eating until we've eaten far more than we should have.
So we sat and ate. We thought about every mouthful. She explained that it is common to have the next bite of food prepared before you've eaten the current bite of food. When that happens, we eat more quickly so that we can get to the next bite.
I ate. I thought about my food. I had one of the best meals in a long time because I wasn't worried about how much or what I was eating. I just enjoyed the food. And I believe I ate a lot less than I would have normally because I ate slowly and thought about it as I was eating it.
Most surprisingly of all, was the benefit no conversation had on the meal. I talk. A lot. Sort of non-stop. But I couldn't look at my neighbor and say how terribly delicious my pineapple basil ice cream was. I had to turn all the enjoyment in and focus on it myself.
I don't usually remember to mindfully eat, but sometimes something reminds me and I remember to enjoy what I'm eating and not hurry through it. Right now, lunch is on the way home with my husband. A brie and spinach wrap that is just delightful. I'm going to enjoy the whole sandwich slowly. That is if the children stay asleep...
The Big Boy Update: He knows. He knows what the baby Go Bag looks like. He knows if I put it by the garage door, I'm getting ready to take him somewhere. He gets excited and runs to the garage. Did I mention there is one door in the whole house he can open? The garage door has a pull-down handle on it and he will head right on out in preparation for departure. Then he gets distracted by a ball or a broom. But he knows.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: How in the world? She was awake from her nap yesterday and I went to get he. As I approached her bed her mobile was on. It shouldn't have been on. It plays for a short while and then turns off. She was on her stomach and she can reach up. Somehow she managed to reach high up enough and hit the button. Impressive for a six-month-old.
It wasn't that at all. It was a valuable, and free, hour at the grocery store. The presenter told us to go get our food from the buffet or anything else you wanted. It didn't matter what or how much you got, just go and get your meal.
When we got back she said, "We are now going to eat a meal in silence. We're going to focus on the food and be mindful of what we're eating." Huh?
But it made sense. She explained that we have put such emphasis on food in our society that we can make food more important than it should be. We can agonize over what we are or aren't eating. We can eat food so quickly that we don't even think about what we're eating until we've eaten far more than we should have.
So we sat and ate. We thought about every mouthful. She explained that it is common to have the next bite of food prepared before you've eaten the current bite of food. When that happens, we eat more quickly so that we can get to the next bite.
I ate. I thought about my food. I had one of the best meals in a long time because I wasn't worried about how much or what I was eating. I just enjoyed the food. And I believe I ate a lot less than I would have normally because I ate slowly and thought about it as I was eating it.
Most surprisingly of all, was the benefit no conversation had on the meal. I talk. A lot. Sort of non-stop. But I couldn't look at my neighbor and say how terribly delicious my pineapple basil ice cream was. I had to turn all the enjoyment in and focus on it myself.
I don't usually remember to mindfully eat, but sometimes something reminds me and I remember to enjoy what I'm eating and not hurry through it. Right now, lunch is on the way home with my husband. A brie and spinach wrap that is just delightful. I'm going to enjoy the whole sandwich slowly. That is if the children stay asleep...
The Big Boy Update: He knows. He knows what the baby Go Bag looks like. He knows if I put it by the garage door, I'm getting ready to take him somewhere. He gets excited and runs to the garage. Did I mention there is one door in the whole house he can open? The garage door has a pull-down handle on it and he will head right on out in preparation for departure. Then he gets distracted by a ball or a broom. But he knows.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: How in the world? She was awake from her nap yesterday and I went to get he. As I approached her bed her mobile was on. It shouldn't have been on. It plays for a short while and then turns off. She was on her stomach and she can reach up. Somehow she managed to reach high up enough and hit the button. Impressive for a six-month-old.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Now I Remember...
...that drinking alcohol can be painful. In the head. In the morning. It also settled into the, "you feel yucky" center of my brain and stayed around for a good part of the morning.
We had a party last night. It's been a long time since I drank much alcohol. Two babies back to back and then a diet that left no room for alcohol-based calories. Since I'd met my goal, I thought it would be nice to have a drink or two.
I think, all things considered, I'd rather eat something delicious than drink alcohol for a while. Remind me to remind myself of that the next time I'm thinking of having a drink.
The Big Boy Update: Uh oh, uh oh all day long. He likes to say, "uh oh" a lot. Even if he's just intentionally thrown a piece of food off the tray directly at you. It's got a broad meaning to him. Lots of times he says, "uh oh," looks at you and turns his palms up and out like a baby-version of a shoulder shrug.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: She played with a large wooden toy that had lots of wooden moving components for a good while today. She was sitting up in front of it and had the best time reaching and touching and moving the pieces that were close enough for her to reach. She is sitting up very well now. She does fall down, but that's commonly because her brother decided he wanted to hug or push or pull her.
We had a party last night. It's been a long time since I drank much alcohol. Two babies back to back and then a diet that left no room for alcohol-based calories. Since I'd met my goal, I thought it would be nice to have a drink or two.
I think, all things considered, I'd rather eat something delicious than drink alcohol for a while. Remind me to remind myself of that the next time I'm thinking of having a drink.
The Big Boy Update: Uh oh, uh oh all day long. He likes to say, "uh oh" a lot. Even if he's just intentionally thrown a piece of food off the tray directly at you. It's got a broad meaning to him. Lots of times he says, "uh oh," looks at you and turns his palms up and out like a baby-version of a shoulder shrug.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: She played with a large wooden toy that had lots of wooden moving components for a good while today. She was sitting up in front of it and had the best time reaching and touching and moving the pieces that were close enough for her to reach. She is sitting up very well now. She does fall down, but that's commonly because her brother decided he wanted to hug or push or pull her.
Friday, May 25, 2012
Sibling Interactions
I'm an only child. It was not by choice. I begged my parents for a brother or sister. They knew better. More to the point they said no. Was it because I was perfect and they knew a second child could only be a disappointment after me? Were they horrified at having at the prospect that the second child would turn out to be worse than I was? We may never know. They stayed firm, ignoring my pleas for a sibling so I grew up knowing nothing of siblings, but having all the benefits of being an only child. It was a good childhood.
As a result though, when I see my children interact with each other it's sometimes funny, usually interesting and frequently surprising.
This morning my son (seventeen months) brought over a xylophone to my daughter (six months) and showed her how you take the mallet and bang on it. Then he handed the mallet to her. She took it and waved it around. He's brought her things before, but never showed how to use them.
He also likes to sit on her, hug her aggressively, drag her around, hold her hand and be close to her. He'll probably start repeating, "careful" and "gentle" to us as he hears them all day long.
Not only is she tolerant of him doing all sorts of things to her, she's interested in him. She watches what he's doing and he's interested in where she is and what she's playing with. He even understands that she's learning (I suspect) because just before nap time she reached out, grabbed two fistfuls of his hair and pulled him to her. He calmly let her examine the hair in what looked like an uncomfortable position and when she let go he looked back at her. No fuss.
The Big Boy Update: Sticky paws. Everywhere. And yet, invisible. But when he's changed, there's a mirror above the changing table. He likes to look at himself in the mirror and babble and put his hands all over the mirror. It is frightening how much goo gets on the mirror. Need more hand washing or a more tidy baby.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Bouncing. She's sitting up better each day. She's starting to do the little bounce thing where she raises her arms and bounces a little bit when she swings them down. Some babies can move forward with a bounce like this. Just now, she's trying to get to a toy just out of her reach. I don't know if she's going to make it but she's trying something fierce.
As a result though, when I see my children interact with each other it's sometimes funny, usually interesting and frequently surprising.
This morning my son (seventeen months) brought over a xylophone to my daughter (six months) and showed her how you take the mallet and bang on it. Then he handed the mallet to her. She took it and waved it around. He's brought her things before, but never showed how to use them.
He also likes to sit on her, hug her aggressively, drag her around, hold her hand and be close to her. He'll probably start repeating, "careful" and "gentle" to us as he hears them all day long.
Not only is she tolerant of him doing all sorts of things to her, she's interested in him. She watches what he's doing and he's interested in where she is and what she's playing with. He even understands that she's learning (I suspect) because just before nap time she reached out, grabbed two fistfuls of his hair and pulled him to her. He calmly let her examine the hair in what looked like an uncomfortable position and when she let go he looked back at her. No fuss.
The Big Boy Update: Sticky paws. Everywhere. And yet, invisible. But when he's changed, there's a mirror above the changing table. He likes to look at himself in the mirror and babble and put his hands all over the mirror. It is frightening how much goo gets on the mirror. Need more hand washing or a more tidy baby.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Bouncing. She's sitting up better each day. She's starting to do the little bounce thing where she raises her arms and bounces a little bit when she swings them down. Some babies can move forward with a bounce like this. Just now, she's trying to get to a toy just out of her reach. I don't know if she's going to make it but she's trying something fierce.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)