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May 30, 2008
Visualize Whirled Peas
Or mashed...
Mandy treats peas like bubble wrap. She very systematically goes around the high chair tray mashing each one. (At least it's greener - groan!)
She thinks it's great fun.
Posted by Wifeepoo at 11:05 PM | Comments (0)
May 25, 2008
hand holding
I'm not sure how or when the habit started, but Mandy has to hold my hand at night when I'm giving her her last bottle. Last night, I had to move my hand to scratch an itch & she almost frantically searched around until she found the other one. Then she went back to nursing her bottle with her little hand wrapped tightly around mine.
I love that.
Posted by Wifeepoo at 06:30 AM | Comments (1)
May 24, 2008
Question
How long does it take a baby to remove everything from the bathroom vanity?
About as long as it takes mommy to clean the toilet.
What should I have been doing instead of taking this picture? Fishing the portion of the cosmetic sponge she managed to bite off out of her mouth.
Posted by Wifeepoo at 12:41 PM | Comments (0)
May 23, 2008
She's a bi-ped
Posted by Wifeepoo at 06:23 PM | Comments (0)
May 22, 2008
Expanding vocabulary
Mandy's vocabulary has expanded to three words - she has uh-oh, pronounced "ah-hoe," mama and today we have added good-bye, pronounced "ga-bye." The only thing she knows about uh-oh is that it is appropriate when an object goes to the ground, so she uses it every time she throws one of her toys down. I'm really sure she knows mama is me because it's the first thing she says when she sees me after I've been out of the room for a minute. And the only thing she knows about good-bye is that people say it a lot.
I've wondered why she is not even attempting "daddy." I think it has something to do with the different ways he & I speak. For example, I'll say "mommy has to go to the bathroom," but he will say "I have to go..." That, in combination with the fact that I'm with her all day means she hears mama a lot more than daddy. But she certainly hears daddy more than good-bye, so there's no telling.
Posted by Wifeepoo at 04:13 PM | Comments (0)
Heartbreaking
It is heartbreaking to learn that Steven Curtis Chapman's 5-year-old daughter was killed yesterday in an auto accident. Apparently, her older brother did not see her in the driveway and backed over her.
A friend and I were recently at a church event where his song "I'll dance with cinderella" was played. It's a tear-jerking song about our daughters growing up and leaving our homes, but the lyrics seems especially sad in light of this tragedy.
She spins and she sways to whatever song plays,
Without a care in the world.
And I'm sittin' here wearin' the weight of the world on my shoulders.
It's been a long day and there's still work to do,
She's pulling at me saying "Dad I need you!
There's a ball at the castle and I've been invited and I need to practice my dancin'"
"Oh please, daddy, please!"
So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Oh I will dance with Cinderella
I don't wanna miss even one song,
Cuz all to soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone
She says he's a nice guy and I'd be impressed
She wants to know if I'd approve of a dress
She says "Dad, the prom is just one week away,
And I need to practice my dancin'"
"Oh please, daddy, please!"
So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Ohh-oh ohh-oh, I will dance with Cinderella
I don't wanna miss even one song,
Cuz all to soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone
She will be gone.
Well, she came home today
With a ring on her hand
Just glowin' and tellin' us all they had planned
She says "Dad, the wedding's due six months away
And I need to practice my dancin'"
"Oh please, daddy please!"
So I will dance with Cinderella
While she is here in my arms
'Cause I know something the prince never knew
Ohh-oh ohh-oh, I will dance with Cinderella
I don't wanna miss even one song,
(even one song)
Cuz all to soon the clock will strike midnight
And she'll be gone
One piece of advice I received from multiple sources when I was pregnant was to treasure every moment - to find some way to enjoy the midnight feedings and the diaper changes and all the other sometimes tiresome duties new parents have. From these lyrics, it seems Mr. Chapman was able to do that. Let's all pray for this family, and learn from this incident.
Posted by Wifeepoo at 07:26 AM | Comments (2)
May 21, 2008
You are excused
Or at least I am - from jury duty. Such a relief. I know most people just spend a portion of a single day in court, but with Meighan's visit, I didn't even want to do that.
Posted by Wifeepoo at 07:00 AM | Comments (0)
May 19, 2008
It was going to happen eventually, I guess
So I'm sitting at the Walgreens prescription counter, because, yes, Mandy had to go to the doctor again, when a lady starts talking to her. She asks her if she has a grandmother with glasses.
?????
It took me a minute. Why were we discussing her grandmother at all, and I was especially confused that we were discussing whether or not her grandmother had glasses. Then it hit me. I'm the one wearing glasses.
Crap.
She thought I was the grandmother. You're going to be very surprised at what I said to her. Really, you're going to be quite shocked. I very sweetly said "her grandmother doesn't wear glasses." She recovered quickly, as did I.
Posted by Wifeepoo at 02:29 PM | Comments (1)
What's in this stuff?
The other day my husband asks me if baby wash is expensive. ??? I know we have budget concerns, but surely the tablespoon or so I use of this every other day is not part of them. But he goes on to tell me he has been using some of it. Oddly enough, I had noticed his hands were cleaner earlier that week. Now, for most of us, clean hands are one simple lather away, but that is not the case with my husband. His are so calloused and rough that the dirt gets deeply imbedded and the dirt he is exposed to is very black with the work he does, so his hands never look clean. He's tried lots of different cleaners including the industrial stuff - nothing has ever worked as well as this baby wash does. (I did tell him that my daddy got his hands clean by doing dishes - apparently that wasn't worth a try.)
So, it begs the question - what is in this stuff that it cleans an iron worker's hands better than industrial hand cleanser?
Posted by Wifeepoo at 10:50 AM | Comments (0)
May 16, 2008
The goal
Wash hands every time I go to the bathroom.
Wash hands every time she goes to the bathroom.
Wash hands every time I eat.
Wash hands every time she eats.
Wash hands every time I fix a bottle.
Wash hands after handling any cleaning products.
Wash hands before unloading the dishwasher.
Keep hands looking young & supple.
Posted by Wifeepoo at 07:11 AM | Comments (0)
May 15, 2008
It works in reverse
A couple of days ago, the guests on Dr. Phil were a drug-using adult daughter and her concerned mother. You have to give him this, Dr. Phil does his homework. In the course of the show, it comes out that the mother often parties with the daughter, pouring her shots, and even once did lines of coke with her. The mother was obviously part of the problem rather than part of the solution.
The one time I have to think during the day is when I'm putting Mandy to bed. She's drinking her bottle, the room is quiet and dark, and my mind wanders. So I ask myself, did learning of this mother's horrible bad judgment cause me to feel any better about my own mothering? Not a bit. But why doesn't it, I next think, because it certainly works in reverse. When I see other mothers doing something better than me, I have a distinct tendency to feel worse about myself. And of course, it extends to other areas besides mothering - it's just that mothering is the most important task I've ever had to do.
In Pretty Woman, Julia Roberts counters Richard Gere's compliments with the statement "the bad stuff is easier to believe." For whatever reason, these are very true words in my own life.
I have a couple hundred thoughts on this, but for your sake, I'll only discuss a few. One verse that has brought me a lot of comfort when faced with my own inadequacies is "God is mindful that we are but dust." Whew. God knows that I can't be all and do all. He knows I'm imperfect, weak, and yet He assures me that I can bring Him glory with my life and do His will.
Mandy is not the first time I've been been overwhelmed at the task of motherhood. Since my husband had custody of his two kids, I've been in a similar position before. Only that time, they were half grown by the time I came into their lives and many of the things I wanted to teach them were contrary to already firmly established habits. One night I was particularly distressed, believing I was having no positive impact on their lives at all, so I started talking to God about it & asked Him to fill in the blanks of my parenting. I told Him I couldn't do it all and needed Him to teach them the things I failed to, like He did with me. Another "whew" moment. As I reflected on the things God taught me that my mother didn't, I realized again, I don't have to do all and be all.
In Matthew, Jesus tells the parable of a land owner giving tallents to his servants to see what they would do with them. Two of the servants use their tallents wisely and have a positive return on their investment. The third simply buries his to prevent losing it and when confronted by the land owner, he whines "but I only had one." Now, I know the biblical word tallent refers to money, but I don't believe for a minute that the lesson Jesus wants us to get out of this is to invest our money wisely so we will have more. The lesson is about using the gifts God has given us and not wasting them. The three different amounts of tallents show us that God gives different gifts to different people, and the underlying lesson is that we can't be jealous of other people's gifts. Some people are good at one thing, and other people are good at another. Ignoring your own gift while you try to chase after someone else's is an exercise in futility. For example, I've been told I bring more glory to God when I lip-sync. So there's just no point in spending all those hours in choir practice when that time would be better spent at home putting a lesson together. The same is true with mothering. There are things I'm going to do very well in parenting Mandy, and there are things that, frankly, God's going to have to pick up the slack on.
Posted by Wifeepoo at 10:56 AM | Comments (0)
Again - already?
We're sick - AGAIN! I checked my checkbook and it was 04/23 when I put her on antibiotics last time, so twice in less than a month. Now I know why mothers nurse well into toddlerhood if it prevents this.
And this time we got to experience an ear infection. The doctor said it wasn't that bad. Mandy begged to differ. Kid can scream.
Posted by Wifeepoo at 06:22 AM | Comments (1)
May 13, 2008
How to use the bathroom
How to do various things in the bathroom with an older baby:
To bathe:
1. Move all objects you don't want them playing with to a higher location. Examples include the toilet bowl brush & cleanser, and the wastebasket.
2. If you don't want an object in the tub with you, don't have it within their reach. This includes the clothes you just took off, your fuzzy house slippers, your towel and the toilet paper.
3. Be very sure you are not rinsing your hair while she is playing with the handle on the back of the toilet.
4. Get your bath first as she somehow gets just as wet as you do anyway.
To use the toilet:
1. Master the art of lowering the lid while you are standing up to minimize their window of opportunity to reach in and "play" with the contents.
2. Loosen their grip on you and stand up. Loosen their grip on you and pull up your pants. Loosen their grip on you and walk to the sink.
To brush your teeth (or any other sink activity):
1. You can stand with your legs spread shoulder width apart and pressed against the cabinet to keep them from getting into the cabinet while you brush your teeth.
2. If the fussing continues for 30-60 seconds, you might want to double check that she hasn't managed to get her finger in a drawer and you're actually pressing the drawer on it.
Posted by Wifeepoo at 07:00 AM | Comments (0)
May 09, 2008
Is Jury Duty Ever Convenient?
I've been an adult for over 2 decades now & not once have I ever been called to jury duty. I've had some jobs from which jury duty would have seemed a vacation. My husband had jury duty a few years back and found it interesting. It was a medical malpractice case.
But now that I have no childcare, I get called to jury duty. And when do I have to appear exactly? The 27th. And who is it that is coming to town on the 25? My step-daughter whom I haven't seen in 2 years and my husband hasn't seen in 4, with her husband and our grandson. I mean, really, could the timing be any worse?
Of course there's no phone number to call & beg for one more week to appear. I guess every person would call & do just that if there were.
Posted by Wifeepoo at 04:50 PM | Comments (2)
No More Complaining
This little guy never sleeps. No - that's not a saying or an exaggeration, something is medically wrong with him that he is unable to fall asleep. No more complaining about Mandy's sleep issues, I promise.
Posted by Wifeepoo at 08:50 AM | Comments (0)
Why I Never Mow Grass
After all the seriousness of the last couple of days, it's time for some comic relief, so I'm going to share with you why I never mow grass.
When my first husband left, he was kind enough to leave behind the mower; however, he was not kind enough to give any instructions and I had never used one before. I finally got up the nerve one day and pulled the thing out of the garage. Confidently, I yanked the little handle attached to the string thingy. Nothing happened. I did it again, and again, and again. At this point, I'm starting to get angry, and even a little winded, and I haven't even shortened one blade of grass. Then I notice this little button on the front of the mower and a memory came back of him pushing it, so I did. Finally the thing cranked & we were off. A couple of hours later, I was laying across my bed, wishing for death but thankful it was done. Imagine my horror to discover it needed to be done again less than a week later.
Later that summer, I made the decision to mow again. This time I was going to be even more thorough and move the upside-down garbage can in the side yard. There was a snake under there! I flung the garbage can creating the largest bruise I've ever had on my calf and screamed like a girl while I ran away. Darned if that snake didn't run into my garage. What kind of snake was it you ask? Doesn't matter. My daddy always said it doesn't matter if it's poisonous or not if you die of a heart attack. Fortunately, I had started dating my husband by then and I called him over there to get the snake out of my garage. I kept the snake in my sight the whole time I was waiting on him, from a safe distance, of course. My husband, and I will never forgive him for this, simply shooed the snake away! I wanted him dead - he had surely taken 5 years off my life. He said something about "good" snake and pest control. That day, like the previous, left me laying across my bed, wishing for death.
And my wish almost came true the 3rd time I mowed. You see, we had a stump in our back yard. I was very familiar with the stump since I had paid good money to remove the tree to which it was once attached, but somehow forgetting about it, I managed to back into it, landing on my back. Our mower has a safety feature in that you let go of the handle and the blades automatically stop turning. I'm not that smart. So I'm laying there, flat on my back, with my legs propped up over this stump with a running lawn mower on top of my legs. Inches from my feet.
I have decided, I'm simply not smart enough to mow. That was the summer my husband decided to change the oil in the lawn mower. Oh - I guess if it has oil, that does need to be changed, huh? He was horrified that I'd never done it & said it should be done every 10 hours of mowing time. Oh - we're ok then, I said.
Posted by Wifeepoo at 06:55 AM | Comments (0)
May 08, 2008
My first mother's day gift
Awwww.
Posted by Wifeepoo at 01:44 PM | Comments (0)
May 07, 2008
Inspired by Bob
So when is commenting on a wrong judgmental? I recently got called judgmental for commenting on a woman feeding her infant french fries & catsup. No one can call that right. I thought I was just stating a fact.
I don't know Bob from Adam, but I'm betting there are other wrongs I could have commented on that would not have offended him. Perhaps a woman blowing cigarette smoke in her baby's face, or leaving his car seat unbuckled. Is it the severity of the wrong that determines someone is judgmental when they comment on it? And if so, certainly the personal opinion of the person hearing the comment comes into play. I haven't been in an accident in about a decade (of course, I'll have one tomorrow now that I've said that) so I consider feeding Mandy improperly to be of much more importance than car safety. I buckle her, of course, but my opinion is that the likelihood of me doing her harm is much greater with poor food choices than with an unbuckled car seat.
Or perhaps it's when we comment on the wrong someone else commits when we ourselves don't commit that particular wrong. Perhaps if I had been feeding Mandy french fries & commented on both my wrong and her wrong at the same time, I wouldn't have come across as judgmental. I know I have a different emotional reaction to a smoker discussing the evils of smoking than a non-smoker.
I'll be honest, I've spent some time pondering the issue of judging from a Biblical perspective and I don't have a real good grasp on it. Jesus said to judge not, lest you be judged. Hebrews says to see to it that there not be any immoral ones among you. How can I do that without first "judging" them to be immoral? Paul said to not even eat with a fornicator - that really sounds like judging to me.
So, what is judgmentalism, exactly? Does anybody have a clear definition?
Posted by Wifeepoo at 04:32 PM | Comments (8)
Wanna hear something ironic?
I'm apparently lactose intolerant now. It's common after an extended period of abstinence.
Many mothers use guilt over their difficult pregnancies or deliveries to motivate their children. So let's recap: 28 hours of labor followed by an emergency c-section and 2 days of feet so swollen they literally cracked. 4 months of protein intolerance which creates behavior like colic on speed. Sleep problems. And now my dairy consumption has been forever altered. Ok God, I have enough ammunition, You can stop now.
But seriously, the good news is that the main source of lactose is in milk itself, which of course you can now buy lactose free, and most naturally aged cheeses have no lactose at all. As long as I keep things like sour cream and yogurt to a minimum, I should be ok. I've tried the lactaid pills with little or no luck.
Posted by Wifeepoo at 06:23 AM | Comments (2)
May 06, 2008
My new project
Crochet class starts again tonight & I'm very excited to be offering what I consider a much more appropriate beginner pattern. In the past, this cotton washcloth was our first project:
Crazy complicated pattern for someone who doesn't know how to crochet! And I've known this for some time, but haven't found anything else I was happy with. I wanted something small enough to be finished in a couple of classes and something that offered at least some variety of stitches - no sense paying for a class that just has you doing row after row of double stitches. You would think there would be a million other washcloths easier than this that still fit that bill, but I've been unable to locate them.
Then I ran across this pattern:
Odd, since I've always simply hated the crocheted towel toppers. Of course, those toppers involved cutting off part of the towel and crocheting directly onto the towel, plus every one I've ever seen has been made out of cheap acrylic (nasty yarn that needs to be taken off the market). I liked the pattern as soon as I saw it because it forms a loop for the towel to hang on:
Then I saw this bright, cheerful towel at Walmart, and had the idea of using cotton yarn. I'm quite pleased. Of course, I can't keep the students from using a towel with a rooster on it & acrylic yarn, but that's their choice.
Posted by Wifeepoo at 12:43 PM | Comments (0)
Help!
I have no idea how to finish my kitchen.
This is the view of the dining room from the kitchen:
And this is the view of the kitchen from the dining room:
In a perfect world, we would buy all new appliances and countertops. The appliances are almond, which does nothing for the gray cabinets and blue floor. But until my income raises above that of a teenager's, we're going to settle for new countertops. And we'll stick to good 'ole affordable formica. Unfortunately, it seems I'm stuck with black as my only option. I can't seem to find a gray or a blue that works. I did find one gray, but it was so close to our wall color that my husband rejected it as having no contrast. I'll deal.
My main concern is that there is no style in the room. No personality whatsoever. I think the table needs a centerpiece other than our mail, but my cats won't let me have flowers - real or fake. And fake fruit seems too generic, so I'm out of ideas. Both sides of the room seem really barren to me. I'd like to incorporate another color - something bold to offset all the neutral. It just seems a shame to have so much money and so much of our own effort absorbed by this room only to still think it's boring, a little short of done.
I know there are a lot of ladies out there & I'm sure most of you have incredible style, so I'm eager to hear anything you have to offer.
Posted by Wifeepoo at 12:33 PM | Comments (0)
My idea of a perfect night
My idea of a perfect night is one in which I put Mandy down, go to bed myself within an hour, sleep 8 uninterrupted hours, and have an hour to myself in the morning before she wakes up. I've had a few of those, one of which was last night, so I'm feeling pretty good this morning.
Apparently, learning to walk is very hard work. For a couple of months now, the only thing she has wanted to do anytime she was awake was grab our fingers and use us for balance as she walked thru the house. I'm not sure if you've ever walked for any length of time hunched over a baby, but it gets to you after a while. So, she's learned that we want to let go much sooner than she does. This has made her grip on our fingers that much stronger. She is so unwilling to ever let go that when she runs across an object that she wants to inspect further, she retains her iron grip and just inspects it with her feet. She has had a handful of moments where she has stood on her own for a few seconds, so hopefully she is that much closer to being able to walk on her own. And yes, after months of walking around the house hunched over a baby, I'm starting to look forward to her walking on her own.
The other thing she has learned is that she gets placed in the bed when the bottle is empty. Therefore, it takes her a l o n g time to drink a bottle. If I pull on it a little like I'm going to take it away, she will give it a few good sucks, only to go right back to just holding it in her mouth. Little stinker - are they supposed to be that smart this young?
And she's a climber. We had a box in the living room and not only did she climb on it, she used it to climb on the couch. I was rather hoping she would have a better understanding of gravity than that.
Uh-oh continues to be her favorite word, only it's pronounced ahh-hoe. But I'm convinced "mama" is right behind it. She's saying it, but I'm not sure she understands that is my name.
Posted by Wifeepoo at 07:22 AM | Comments (0)
May 03, 2008
Are you ready?
Ta-da!!!
The perfect floor has been installed.
Posted by Wifeepoo at 04:01 PM | Comments (1)
Combat mommy guilt
The next time you're feeling like a horrible mother, just go to McDonalds and watch the ladies give their 6-8 month old babies french fries, complete with catsup.
The first time, I actually muttered "no way!" before I caught myself, and to my increased surprise, she just kept giving them to him the whole time I was there.
Posted by Wifeepoo at 03:54 PM | Comments (3)
May 01, 2008
Blonde joke
I finally found a way to keep Mandy occupied while I work (ok - play) on the computer - give her a pacifier and snacks. She wants the snacks, but either doesn't want to or doesn't realize she has to remove the pacifier first. So she's just sitting there with a pacifier in her mouth & snacks in her hand.
There's a blonde joke in there somewhere.
Posted by Wifeepoo at 03:45 PM | Comments (1)
silverware, not that you care
My mother-in-law has matching silverware, so we'll be using that.
In the meantime, I've found a link on the Oneida website where you can e-mail them pictures of your pattern and they will help you identify it. I have not lost hope that I can just round out my set.
This set was a wedding gift from my grandmother over 20 years ago when I married my first husband. She is now deceased. I don't normally attach a lot of sentimental value on household objects, but not only was she special, but this was a particularly thoughtful gift on her part. Something I would use every day for decades - and if I can find replacements - for the rest of my life.
And with that thought, I've kinda been beating myself up for letting the pieces dwindle. Who knows how it happens - apparently people accidently throw them away when scraping their plates. But then I assured myself that she would rather them be used the way she intended, even if that meant missing pieces, than to be stuck in a closet this whole time "saved for good."
I'm not crazy about saving things for good, despite being raised in a house where that was common. For example, I often crochet baby blankets when someone around me is having a baby. While I'm doing this, I'm hoping my blanket will be the "blankie." The one the kids drags around the house & steps on & has to take to daycare with him. I'd much rather see it frayed & raveled in 5 years than in pristine condition.
Objects have no value if we're afraid to use them. And they do get broken, missing, damaged. It's life. That's why we're not supposed to store our treasures here.
Posted by Wifeepoo at 11:31 AM | Comments (1)
The work has begun
Before:
Today:
Prior to work starting, I spoke to the contractor several times to get assurance I would still have access to my kitchen as they worked. With a baby to take care of, I simply could not be completely shut out. And I wasn't shut out of the kitchen - I was shut out of the entire first floor! As they used a chisel and hammer to knock the parquet out of my dining room, there was wood debris everywhere and little pieces were even flying into the living room. It was worse as they sawed into the sub-floor of the kitchen and wood smoke and dust billowed. I don't know what I expected life to be like while they were ripping up my floor, but it was very hard to keep my very active little one completely out of the main living area. We rotated between her room, my room and my office. The noise level was such that naps were simply not possible. We were both a little cranky by the time the day ended.
But, despite that whine about the inconvenience, I'm so thrilled to be having this done! Despite the kitchen furniture crammed into my living room, and the dust that coats everything upstairs, I already have a kitchen & dining room floor that is level! And they expect to get the tile laid today. I don't expect the laying of the tile to be as uncomfortable to be around as the ripping up, and Mandy goes to Mothers-day-out today, so all around, I'm expecting a better day. And I'm very eager to see what the tile will look like actually in place.
Posted by Wifeepoo at 07:16 AM | Comments (0)
It's a little late now
Now she decides pacifiers are fun...
Posted by Wifeepoo at 06:59 AM | Comments (0)