Vi starts pre-school next week! She is so excited, she keeps telling everyone. The classrooms all have animal names - right now, she's an Inchworm, and her preschool classroom is the Hoppy Frogs. She says, "I be a hoppy frog!!!" When she visited the classroom a couple of weeks ago, she walked in, threw her hands in the air and said, "I'm a hoppy frog!" (Her inchworm teacher almost cried. Oh, the tongue-in-cheek glare we got from her today when we told her Vi officially starts next week!)
I had a tour of the new classroom this morning, and saw their "Circle Time." The teachers are so great - they really work letters and counting into everything. They have mastered the art of combining play and learning - perfect for this age group. When wrapping up the tour with the director, I got weepy telling her how pleased we are with her teachers and facility. We talked about how happy and loving her employees are, how dedicated they are, and how Dan and I both feel so blessed to have a child care situation that is so closely aligned with our own values. She then got weepy, too, and said how sad she feels that not all children have this sort of a child care situation. And, how the world would be a better place if that weren't the case, and we paid more attention, gave more love, and showed our "little ones" how to be respectful, kind and loving.
*Sigh.*
I love our daycare.
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Monday, December 28, 2009
More Christmas 2009
This Christmas, the grown-ups exchanged helpful gifts. We each submitted a list of things we wanted to learn, ways we wanted to grow, etc. The kids all had plenty under the tree from Santa, Aunties, Uncs and Grandparents.
Vi was most excited to see her cousins. She and Baby Addie were full of hugs.
This is Vi, "especially psyched out of her mind" about a gift from T-bone and Lulu.
Vi was most excited to see her cousins. She and Baby Addie were full of hugs.
This is Vi, "especially psyched out of her mind" about a gift from T-bone and Lulu.
Dan asked for ideas of books he might like and recipes for corned beef hash. He got books stolen from Sneaky Fox's mom and recipes using canned corned beef hash. And lots of snuggles from Katara. All in all, he was happy.
Mumsy found Auntie Boo's old wiggly Santa headband and gave it to Vi.
I asked for help coming up with a strength-training routine. Mark gave me some print-outs of quick yoga practices I can sneak into my work day (don't tell my boss!) and signed me up for some stress-reduction workshops at our town rec center! This is me, on the verge of happy tears.
Oh, the end of the long day. Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Oink.
Why haven't I posted since November 30th? Let me count the reasons...
1) On December 2nd, my dad had total knee replacement surgery. He thought he would walk out of the hospital the next day, but...apparently? TKR is pretty serious? A major procedure, even? Resulting in lots of pain, muscle aches, and requiring a serious regimen of recovery? Yup. My recommendation to all who are considering joint replacement: GO TO THE CLASSES THE DOCTOR RECOMMENDS. It will take away the element of surprise. My dad didn't go, because he was worried the information would make him nervous. Well, for two full weeks my siblings and I tag-teamed to take care of him, because he couldn't get around on his own, even to go to the bathroom. We bullied him into doing the exercises, we comforted him when he was frustrated, we cooked, cleaned, and managed his long list of medications. And now, he's off the meds, driving himself around, going to work, and seems to be doing fine. I think he has more outpatient physical therapy to keep him on the path, but all in all, the tough part is over.
2) As soon as my final turn at Dad's was over, I promptly became sick. After three days of a fever ranging between 101 and 102, I went to my doctor's. I fully expected to be told "Go home. Rest. Drink Gatorade. Take Tylenol." But that would be too un-dramatic, un-exciting, un-Lindsay. My doctor said, "Your heart is beating around 200 beats per minute. I have no idea what's going on, but I'm worried you have an infection in the tissue surrounding your heart. I'm calling an ambulence."
Huh. NOT the same as going home and watching Oprah with a pitcher of water at my side.
So, I got my first ride in an ambulence. Did you know the patient rides backwards in those things? Not the best for someone with a tendency towards motion sickness, let me tell you. The EMTs hooked me up to some oxygen, a heart monitor, and an IV. (My doctor, who has known me since I was 6, said to the EMT, "You know how to put in an IV, right?") I was taken to Maine Medical Center. By the time I reached there -about 20 minutes later - I had taken most of a liter of fluid, and my heart rate was back down to about 115. They wheeled me into a room, and then closed the door. Then the closed the OTHER door. I wondered - "Huh. Two doors. That's strange." And THEN, the phone rang, and my intake interview (you know, name, age, social security, religious preference, emergency contact, etc) was taken remotely. That's when I started repeating, "This is surreal. I am in a QUARANTINED ROOM in the HOSPITAL." That's also when I realized that I had the swine flu.
Yup, H1N1 here. That explained why my entire body had been aching and I couldn't stay hydrated. This thing really had knocked me down over the past few days! My parents, husband and 2 of my brothers wore masks and entertained me in their usual fashion. The nursing staff was cracking up at Tim and Mark standing outside my room, pretending to go up & down in elevators, etc, just to make me smile. I'm so thankful for my family.
Let's see, what else would make this story exciting? Dan had picked Vi up from daycare early that day, because SHE had a fever. He took her to the doctor, and they confirmed that she did not have an ear infection, just something viral. "Go home, rest, lots of fluids, take tylenol," is what they told him. When we got my diagnosis, I had Dan call the pediatrician repeatedly to see if this news changed their recommendation at all.
Oh, the poor goose. She had a fever and wouldn't eat, wouldn't drink, and was refusing Tylenol. We tried fun cups, different beverages, even Capri Sun. She just had no interest in drinking. The last thing I wanted was to see my little girl with an IV in her. I shiver just imagining it. I had to wake up enough to give her a serious talking-to. "Listen, Vi," I said. "You know about germs, right? Well, you have a germ. We want to make the germ go away. The only way to make the germ go away is to drink lots of water and juice. We can feed you like a baby bird if you want - drip the drink in you mouth. How does that sound?" She replied weakly, "tweet, tweet! Go away, Germ!" She let us feed her lots of coconut water mixed with juice like that over the next few days.
She and I doubled up on our probiotics and Vitamin D3, drank lots of water and juices with electrolytes, and took Elderberry syrup in the higher acute-case dosage.
Who need vaccinations that may or may not cause future neurological issues? Not us - we made our own antibodies.
But it really wasn't fun doing it. I don't want to do that again, thank you very much.
Now here I am, December 23rd, back to work to get caught up. I am so thankful that my team at my firm is so strong - I hardly have any catch-up to do. The plates kept spinning. Heck, we got 3 new clients because of my connections while I was out sick! Maybe I'll take more time off...
Family has started arriving today - Noelle & the NJ contingent arrived at noon. Hopefully Tim and Amy will get here tomorrow. JD, Steph and Addie will arrive on Christmas morning. I think we've got Vi's stocking all set, and we're working on our Secret Santa gifts. This is cool - instead of buying presents, we drew names and submitted a "help me with" wish list. Mine included help developing a strength-training regimen, Tim's asked for ideas on places to hike, Noelle wants resources to help improve her (already fantastic) photography skills, and so on. This should be an interesting Christmas!
I asked Vi yesterday what Christmas is all about. She said, "Christmaaaaaaasss....yeah. Yeah. Christmas is....Christmas is eating cookies."
So there you have it. Knee Replacement, Swine Flu, and Cookies. A typical December.
1) On December 2nd, my dad had total knee replacement surgery. He thought he would walk out of the hospital the next day, but...apparently? TKR is pretty serious? A major procedure, even? Resulting in lots of pain, muscle aches, and requiring a serious regimen of recovery? Yup. My recommendation to all who are considering joint replacement: GO TO THE CLASSES THE DOCTOR RECOMMENDS. It will take away the element of surprise. My dad didn't go, because he was worried the information would make him nervous. Well, for two full weeks my siblings and I tag-teamed to take care of him, because he couldn't get around on his own, even to go to the bathroom. We bullied him into doing the exercises, we comforted him when he was frustrated, we cooked, cleaned, and managed his long list of medications. And now, he's off the meds, driving himself around, going to work, and seems to be doing fine. I think he has more outpatient physical therapy to keep him on the path, but all in all, the tough part is over.
2) As soon as my final turn at Dad's was over, I promptly became sick. After three days of a fever ranging between 101 and 102, I went to my doctor's. I fully expected to be told "Go home. Rest. Drink Gatorade. Take Tylenol." But that would be too un-dramatic, un-exciting, un-Lindsay. My doctor said, "Your heart is beating around 200 beats per minute. I have no idea what's going on, but I'm worried you have an infection in the tissue surrounding your heart. I'm calling an ambulence."
Huh. NOT the same as going home and watching Oprah with a pitcher of water at my side.
So, I got my first ride in an ambulence. Did you know the patient rides backwards in those things? Not the best for someone with a tendency towards motion sickness, let me tell you. The EMTs hooked me up to some oxygen, a heart monitor, and an IV. (My doctor, who has known me since I was 6, said to the EMT, "You know how to put in an IV, right?") I was taken to Maine Medical Center. By the time I reached there -about 20 minutes later - I had taken most of a liter of fluid, and my heart rate was back down to about 115. They wheeled me into a room, and then closed the door. Then the closed the OTHER door. I wondered - "Huh. Two doors. That's strange." And THEN, the phone rang, and my intake interview (you know, name, age, social security, religious preference, emergency contact, etc) was taken remotely. That's when I started repeating, "This is surreal. I am in a QUARANTINED ROOM in the HOSPITAL." That's also when I realized that I had the swine flu.
Yup, H1N1 here. That explained why my entire body had been aching and I couldn't stay hydrated. This thing really had knocked me down over the past few days! My parents, husband and 2 of my brothers wore masks and entertained me in their usual fashion. The nursing staff was cracking up at Tim and Mark standing outside my room, pretending to go up & down in elevators, etc, just to make me smile. I'm so thankful for my family.
Let's see, what else would make this story exciting? Dan had picked Vi up from daycare early that day, because SHE had a fever. He took her to the doctor, and they confirmed that she did not have an ear infection, just something viral. "Go home, rest, lots of fluids, take tylenol," is what they told him. When we got my diagnosis, I had Dan call the pediatrician repeatedly to see if this news changed their recommendation at all.
Oh, the poor goose. She had a fever and wouldn't eat, wouldn't drink, and was refusing Tylenol. We tried fun cups, different beverages, even Capri Sun. She just had no interest in drinking. The last thing I wanted was to see my little girl with an IV in her. I shiver just imagining it. I had to wake up enough to give her a serious talking-to. "Listen, Vi," I said. "You know about germs, right? Well, you have a germ. We want to make the germ go away. The only way to make the germ go away is to drink lots of water and juice. We can feed you like a baby bird if you want - drip the drink in you mouth. How does that sound?" She replied weakly, "tweet, tweet! Go away, Germ!" She let us feed her lots of coconut water mixed with juice like that over the next few days.
She and I doubled up on our probiotics and Vitamin D3, drank lots of water and juices with electrolytes, and took Elderberry syrup in the higher acute-case dosage.
Who need vaccinations that may or may not cause future neurological issues? Not us - we made our own antibodies.
But it really wasn't fun doing it. I don't want to do that again, thank you very much.
Now here I am, December 23rd, back to work to get caught up. I am so thankful that my team at my firm is so strong - I hardly have any catch-up to do. The plates kept spinning. Heck, we got 3 new clients because of my connections while I was out sick! Maybe I'll take more time off...
Family has started arriving today - Noelle & the NJ contingent arrived at noon. Hopefully Tim and Amy will get here tomorrow. JD, Steph and Addie will arrive on Christmas morning. I think we've got Vi's stocking all set, and we're working on our Secret Santa gifts. This is cool - instead of buying presents, we drew names and submitted a "help me with" wish list. Mine included help developing a strength-training regimen, Tim's asked for ideas on places to hike, Noelle wants resources to help improve her (already fantastic) photography skills, and so on. This should be an interesting Christmas!
I asked Vi yesterday what Christmas is all about. She said, "Christmaaaaaaasss....yeah. Yeah. Christmas is....Christmas is eating cookies."
So there you have it. Knee Replacement, Swine Flu, and Cookies. A typical December.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Elmer's, Fishy and a Monkey, too
We took a trip to Target on Saturday to get some diapers, Halloween candy, a hand soap refill, and a second paintbrush for Vi to share with Dylan on Tuesdays. This was Vi's first planned diaper-free outing.
We found the diapers easily, then went on a hunt for the hand soap we like. Vi was walking in front of the cart, practically shouting "Where ARE you, soap? Where ARE you?" The people behind us were either laughing with me or at me - I'm not sure.
Even with very limited exposure to candy, Vi was right on top of this part of shopping. Grabbing Mike & Ikes, Junior Mints and Nerds. We peeked at the costumes for a minute, but she really wasn't into it. I was still, at this point in the weekend, thinking that Vi didn't "get" Halloween and we wouldn't be doing much in the way of dress-up.
Arts & Crafts. I found the paint brushes, Vi grabbed tempera paint and tried to hoist it into the cart, and I picked out a jumbo pack of construction paper. This is one of those aisles in the store where I can really go wild and have to tame myself. Next, Vi was holding some Elmer's glue, saying, "Wanna make a school bus?" Hours of shapes and glueing and painting and drawing were dancing in my mind, so of COURSE I wanted to make a school bus. We now have a whole bin of arts & crafts STUFF which is keeping Vi so entertained and engaged (and away from the TV.) Those $15 have really revolutionized our evenings. (Duh, Lindsay, DUH. Going back to the basics is usually the answer...)
Also on Saturday we drove up to Bath with Granddaddy to visit the YMCA where he works out. Anyone who knows my dad knows that he keeps diligent records of his workouts, tallying cumulative pounds for each session. "I did about 47,000 pounds today." The Y has a pool with family swim time, and Dad had 2 free guest passes. Vi starts swimming lessons with Mumsy on the 31st, and had never been in a pool before. So, off we went to introduce Vi to chorine, echos, and floating. Was I nervous? Yes. Was she? Apparently NOT.
Vi took to the water like she had been in a pool every day of her life. We got there just as a swimming class was ending, and all of the kids were climbing out of the pool, taking off back-pack floatation devices. Vi walked right over to the basket and grabbed one, and tried to put it on herself. We walked into the pool, down the stairs, and started swimming. She wanted to jump into the water, to blow bubbles in the water, to go under completely, to kick, to paddle, and, most impressively, to swim by her "shelsh." (I manna sim my myshelsh!!) We had a blast, and she is so excited to go back to the pool again soon. We are lucky to live across the street from the community pool in our town, so we can drop into family swim once in a while.
Sunday evening, as I was putting her to bed and talking about the day, I started to talk about Halloween. I don't want to get all the way to this Saturday and find out that she "gets it," and be totally unprepared, so I figured I would start explaining to her what her buddies at school might already be talking about. I told her she could dress up if she wanted, and she could be a clown, a kitty-ca--"I MANNA BE A MONKEY," she interrupted me to say.
"A monkey?" I ask, smiling at the way her personality is shining through in this sweet moment.
Nodding, she says, "Yeah, a monkey. Oo-oo, ah-ah. And you be a bee, and Daddy be a horse. No, Daddy a bee, and you a monkey."
"I'm a monk--" I start.
"NO! I a monkey first," she explains.
"Can I be a mommy monkey, and you be my baby monkey? And, I'll carry you on my back through the jungle?"
"Uh-huh. Oo-oo, ah-ah." And then she pointed at her bed, ready for sleep.
I immediately get on craigslist and facebook, looking for a monkey to borrow or a cheap monkey to buy. My sister's facebook status, within minutes, is asking her friends the same question: anyone have a 3T monkey costume to lend? And, by morning, her friend (well, my friend, too!) has one on its way to us.
When Vi woke up, I asked her to tell Dan what she wants to be for Halloween. She said, "An elephant."
Of course. An elephant.
Don't worry - by bedtime last night, when I asked her again, she was back to the monkey. Oo-oo, ah-ah.
We found the diapers easily, then went on a hunt for the hand soap we like. Vi was walking in front of the cart, practically shouting "Where ARE you, soap? Where ARE you?" The people behind us were either laughing with me or at me - I'm not sure.
Even with very limited exposure to candy, Vi was right on top of this part of shopping. Grabbing Mike & Ikes, Junior Mints and Nerds. We peeked at the costumes for a minute, but she really wasn't into it. I was still, at this point in the weekend, thinking that Vi didn't "get" Halloween and we wouldn't be doing much in the way of dress-up.
Arts & Crafts. I found the paint brushes, Vi grabbed tempera paint and tried to hoist it into the cart, and I picked out a jumbo pack of construction paper. This is one of those aisles in the store where I can really go wild and have to tame myself. Next, Vi was holding some Elmer's glue, saying, "Wanna make a school bus?" Hours of shapes and glueing and painting and drawing were dancing in my mind, so of COURSE I wanted to make a school bus. We now have a whole bin of arts & crafts STUFF which is keeping Vi so entertained and engaged (and away from the TV.) Those $15 have really revolutionized our evenings. (Duh, Lindsay, DUH. Going back to the basics is usually the answer...)
Also on Saturday we drove up to Bath with Granddaddy to visit the YMCA where he works out. Anyone who knows my dad knows that he keeps diligent records of his workouts, tallying cumulative pounds for each session. "I did about 47,000 pounds today." The Y has a pool with family swim time, and Dad had 2 free guest passes. Vi starts swimming lessons with Mumsy on the 31st, and had never been in a pool before. So, off we went to introduce Vi to chorine, echos, and floating. Was I nervous? Yes. Was she? Apparently NOT.
Vi took to the water like she had been in a pool every day of her life. We got there just as a swimming class was ending, and all of the kids were climbing out of the pool, taking off back-pack floatation devices. Vi walked right over to the basket and grabbed one, and tried to put it on herself. We walked into the pool, down the stairs, and started swimming. She wanted to jump into the water, to blow bubbles in the water, to go under completely, to kick, to paddle, and, most impressively, to swim by her "shelsh." (I manna sim my myshelsh!!) We had a blast, and she is so excited to go back to the pool again soon. We are lucky to live across the street from the community pool in our town, so we can drop into family swim once in a while.
Sunday evening, as I was putting her to bed and talking about the day, I started to talk about Halloween. I don't want to get all the way to this Saturday and find out that she "gets it," and be totally unprepared, so I figured I would start explaining to her what her buddies at school might already be talking about. I told her she could dress up if she wanted, and she could be a clown, a kitty-ca--"I MANNA BE A MONKEY," she interrupted me to say.
"A monkey?" I ask, smiling at the way her personality is shining through in this sweet moment.
Nodding, she says, "Yeah, a monkey. Oo-oo, ah-ah. And you be a bee, and Daddy be a horse. No, Daddy a bee, and you a monkey."
"I'm a monk--" I start.
"NO! I a monkey first," she explains.
"Can I be a mommy monkey, and you be my baby monkey? And, I'll carry you on my back through the jungle?"
"Uh-huh. Oo-oo, ah-ah." And then she pointed at her bed, ready for sleep.
I immediately get on craigslist and facebook, looking for a monkey to borrow or a cheap monkey to buy. My sister's facebook status, within minutes, is asking her friends the same question: anyone have a 3T monkey costume to lend? And, by morning, her friend (well, my friend, too!) has one on its way to us.
When Vi woke up, I asked her to tell Dan what she wants to be for Halloween. She said, "An elephant."
Of course. An elephant.
Don't worry - by bedtime last night, when I asked her again, she was back to the monkey. Oo-oo, ah-ah.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
STRESS!
I'm so stressed about money! This has been such a difficult year for us, and I think we're both going to need to pick up extra hours at odd jobs to make ends meet for the rest of the year.
Any suggestions? Should I sell my eggs? Sell pies? C'mon, creative readers - any ideas for me?
Any suggestions? Should I sell my eggs? Sell pies? C'mon, creative readers - any ideas for me?
Friday, October 9, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
As promised...
Pictures taken by Dan...
http://picasaweb.google.com/linzwalsh/March162009?feat=directlink
Pictures taken by Noelle....
http://picasaweb.google.com/linzwalsh/BostonMarch2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJjV57jT_azSXg&feat=directlink
Enjoy!
http://picasaweb.google.com/linzwalsh/March162009?feat=directlink
Pictures taken by Noelle....
http://picasaweb.google.com/linzwalsh/BostonMarch2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCJjV57jT_azSXg&feat=directlink
Enjoy!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Ready to Spring Forward
Maybe it's been colder and snowier than usual, but I am so looking forward to Spring. Every night when I place scraps of food in our compost bin, I get excited in my head about it. My reason? I can't wait to put in our garden. True, this year it will have more meaning for us to plant, grow, and harvest our own food, for pennies on the dollar we would spend buying produce at a grocery store. That is a very big piece of my anticipation. I really look forward to getting my hands dirty, smelling the earth, and the satisfaction of eating a cherry tomato right off the plant. One of my favorite memories of last summer is of Vi picking yellow beans and cherry tomatoes; she would wander around the backyard with her new-walker waddle, munching on something fresh.
The other reason I am excited? This will be the first summer in 10 years that Dan will get to spend with me. TRULY spend with me. Two years ago he managed to take two weeks off, straddling Vi's birth. I'm still not sure how that was made possible! Managing a boating supply store in the summer required, usually, 60-plus hours a week on his part. There were days he wouldn't see Vi awake at all - isn't that heart-breaking? I simply cannot wait for beach days and picnics - with my husband and daughter (and maybe Riley.)
Monday, January 5, 2009
Happy New Year!
Here are some photos from my sister - just a select few; I'll post a picasa album later this week.
A moment with Dada.
With Grammy and cousins, saying "Make a silly face? If Addie's not, I'm not."
Don't worry, Addie's vital signs were being monitored by Grammy.
Being a Big Help to Grammy.
More baby sweetnesss.
My new favorite photo...ever.
Vi's first sledding adventure!
Mmmm...snow.Monday, December 29, 2008
Christmas and December 2008 in review...
It's hard to believe the year is almost over. I do believe 2008 has been one of the most challenging and rewarding years of my life (so far.) I'm sure I'll have to take some "time to reflect" before New Year's Eve. For now, though, here's what we did in the past couple of weeks.
Many of you know that Maine was hit hard with an ice storm recently. We were without electricity for just over 24 hours at our house, but family members were without power for 3 and 4 days. Others in the state suffered for almost a week!
We heat our home with oil...our, I should say heatED. This summer Dan refurbished the boat and sold it, making enough money to install a chimney, hearth and wood-burning stove, plus buy enough wood for this winter and possibly next. The installation has been a struggle to say the least. We had a contractor lined up to do the whole project - he had great references, a good price, and Dan really liked him. He showed up with rusty, used parts that were not even the right size to meet code. There was no negotiating to happen with this guy, so he left and wouldn't return our calls. Thank goodness we hadn't given him any money. It was another month before we had someone else lined up, and he was a total administrative nightmare...he wrote down our information as Stan Welch, and kept getting our street name and family names mixed up...I actually told him that I was Stan's wife at one point...ha! When it was all said and done, he did a great job in little time for a great price.
Dan decided to build the hearth himself, which was a big leap of faith for me. Half-way through that piece of the project, our neighbor offered some advice, training, and help. In the end, he built the entire hearth in exchange for driveway snow-blowing for the winter! What a deal. The hearth was useable but not beautiful JUST in time for our power outtage, so we were toasty warm. We cooked on the stove, heated up water for baths, and dried hand-washed clothes on racks in the living room. We felt like frontier-folk. We were *almost* sad when the power returned.
Many of you know that Maine was hit hard with an ice storm recently. We were without electricity for just over 24 hours at our house, but family members were without power for 3 and 4 days. Others in the state suffered for almost a week!
We heat our home with oil...our, I should say heatED. This summer Dan refurbished the boat and sold it, making enough money to install a chimney, hearth and wood-burning stove, plus buy enough wood for this winter and possibly next. The installation has been a struggle to say the least. We had a contractor lined up to do the whole project - he had great references, a good price, and Dan really liked him. He showed up with rusty, used parts that were not even the right size to meet code. There was no negotiating to happen with this guy, so he left and wouldn't return our calls. Thank goodness we hadn't given him any money. It was another month before we had someone else lined up, and he was a total administrative nightmare...he wrote down our information as Stan Welch, and kept getting our street name and family names mixed up...I actually told him that I was Stan's wife at one point...ha! When it was all said and done, he did a great job in little time for a great price.
Dan decided to build the hearth himself, which was a big leap of faith for me. Half-way through that piece of the project, our neighbor offered some advice, training, and help. In the end, he built the entire hearth in exchange for driveway snow-blowing for the winter! What a deal. The hearth was useable but not beautiful JUST in time for our power outtage, so we were toasty warm. We cooked on the stove, heated up water for baths, and dried hand-washed clothes on racks in the living room. We felt like frontier-folk. We were *almost* sad when the power returned.
Popps decided to do his physical rehab here in Maine, so he arrived shortly after Thanksgiving to a nursing home about 20 minutes North of us. We've been visiting him a lot, and he's been making great progress. He's using a walker and a wheelchair, doing his exercises, and seems to have made peace with his PT after a rocky start. He's hoping to return to NY soon.
Vi has had an action-packed month. Between OMT for last month's ear infection, eczema, and a tummy bug, she's been in and out of the doctors' offices too many times to count. Her ears are all cleared up, and she started a growth spurt just after a four-day BRAT diet. The eczema still hasn't cleared up, so we visited the homeopathic doctor last week. She thinks that it's not an allergy, but a wrecked gut...from the antibiotics last month for her ear infection and the tummy bug. She is helping us cure this from the inside out with Cod Liver Oil, ProBiotics, and a homepathic remedy for her general constitution to help her immune system get balanced. Plus, she's having us eliminate dairy and soy for a bit, just to help along the process. (Goat and Buffalo are fine...we're sticking with Goat's milk, since Buffalo milk sounds revolting and wrong.)
New words that she's trying out: help, hot, down, cup, sit, ball, eyeball and all gone. All gone is a good one - it comes out sounding like the Law & Order chime - Ga-gong!
Her "receptive" language is still thriving - she seems to understand more than we realize. She is also using her signs as much as ever. New signs include train and rabbit. She can point to her body parts, too, so we're singing a lot of "head, shoulders, knees and toes" lately. We've been asking her lots of questions and trying to improve her ability to constructively use all of these tools. So, lots of fun stories are to come, including:
My brother's family was in town for the holiday, and poor baby Addie has started teething. There was a lot of crying in the past couple of days. (Which made Dan and me realize that a baby's cry is loudest to the baby's parents. Funny what perspective does.) Recently, Addie gave up the pacifier/Nuk/binky/bubba. I asked Vi if Addie had told her what she needed. (I sort of think the little ones actually understand each other...any research to prove that? I'd love to read it.) Vi nodded her head and said, "Yeh." I asked her, "What does baby Addie need?" Vi responded, enthusiastically and unprompted, "Bubba!"
This is one of those stories that's hard to tell without sounding judgemental, so I want to be clear that Addie's doing great without the bubba, does not need one, and I'm not suggesting they try to give her one! The Bub is one of those areas each parent has to make their own choices about, and I know how much I dislike uninvited advice. JD and I were comiserating about strangers giving us advice in public...so strange. That's the easy advice to shirk. Intra-family advice is harder because the advisors are witnesses to your choices. It can be hard to not take it personally, when parenting methods are not the same. I know we have different rules about bubbas and TV than my sister's family, and that sleep and slings are big differences between me and my brother's family...but you know what? It doesn't matter. I mean, of course it matters that one parents mindfully and makes these decisions with the overall health of all the family members being a priority, but it doesn't matter that we do it differently. These kids are all growing up loved and taken care of, with a great big family that loves them. That's all that matters.
Another word that Vi definitely understands is "scream." If you say the word, she willingly demonstrates. How can such little lungs make so much noise?
Christmas was great. We did our usual multi-family run-around - three families in one day. Vi got lots of new books, a table & chairs set, an emperor penguin, clothes, shoes, and money for college. I got clothes, a Kitchenaid mixer, slippers, and lots of sleep. Dan got a leather jacket, books, iTunes gift cards, and gift certificates for shoes and a wood-carrier. We got money for our oil bill, too, which is great...we'll have hardly spent any of our own money on oil this year! With a bunch of gift certificates combined, we also got a new camera. (RIP our Sony.)
My sister was here with her kids, and we got to go sledding, watch Prince Caspian, play with the electric train, draw and decorate cookies. The kids all did some disco-diva dancing at my dad's house that evening. I am hoping we have some video to post, because it was pretty hilarious. There will definitely be lots of great pictures coming from Noelle.
And, today, it's back to work. Just a 3-day work week for me, so I should really be plowing through my to-dos rather than writing in my diary...
Happy New Year to all of you!
P.S. 8 days until Birthday.
Monday, October 13, 2008
First day of day care
Vi had her first day of day care last Wednesday, and she loved it. Her teacher sent us this picture:
On her daily report (the piece of paper which tells us if she ate, pooped, slept, or learned anything new each day), it said "Vi had fun Playing with Cassy (the dog)."
This isn't going to be so hard, after all. Now I know the hard part will be the separation...for ME. I am going to miss so much of her development; I'll have to find a way to deal with the incongruity between my ideals as a mother, a feminist, and someone who can't afford to not work.
On her daily report (the piece of paper which tells us if she ate, pooped, slept, or learned anything new each day), it said "Vi had fun Playing with Cassy (the dog)."
This isn't going to be so hard, after all. Now I know the hard part will be the separation...for ME. I am going to miss so much of her development; I'll have to find a way to deal with the incongruity between my ideals as a mother, a feminist, and someone who can't afford to not work.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Post 101
Today was a perfect, wonderful day.
Preceded, of course, by a delightully long night of sleep, gifted to me by my precious daughter who went 7 (SEVEN!!) hours without needing us.
It's getting cold here, in Maine. Dan and I have been using a blanket and two comforters at night to stay warm - which has been, I admit, overkill to the point that we kick the top comforter off in a sweaty fit around 2 am. Still, it's cold enough that we THINK we need two comforters. Vi, like most babies, I'm told, kicks her blankets off. Dan's theory is that she's waking up cold. So, we purchased a "sleep sack" last night. Here is a picture of someone else's baby sleeping soundly in the sack.
Preceded, of course, by a delightully long night of sleep, gifted to me by my precious daughter who went 7 (SEVEN!!) hours without needing us.
It's getting cold here, in Maine. Dan and I have been using a blanket and two comforters at night to stay warm - which has been, I admit, overkill to the point that we kick the top comforter off in a sweaty fit around 2 am. Still, it's cold enough that we THINK we need two comforters. Vi, like most babies, I'm told, kicks her blankets off. Dan's theory is that she's waking up cold. So, we purchased a "sleep sack" last night. Here is a picture of someone else's baby sleeping soundly in the sack.
You already know that Vi's first night in a sleep sack went very well.
This morning, Dan went to the kitchen to make cofee around 7:30, and took Vi with him. They snuggled and read books while the coffee brewed and I snoozed. We had warm beverages in bed together, snuggled, giggled, and loved the pets. When we were ready to get up (read: Vi started climbing down from the bed on her own), we all padded around in PJs and Dan made buckwheat pancakes.
**IS THAT NOT THE PERFECT START TO A DAY? Coffee/Bottle in bed, DaddyCakes in PJs. PERFECT.**
We then went about our typical morning routine of books and percussion instruments, intermingled with dog-kissing and shrieking. We ran a few errands, then headed up to Wolfe's Neck Farm for a pumpkin hay ride. We saw chickens, turkeys, sheep, and cows. We even saw what one woman described as a "bunny mixed with a bison," but in reality was just an extremely ugly and fuzzy rabbit. The hay ride was on a big wagon pulled by a tractor (I was hoping for horses), and we went by the cow's pastures and past a wonderful view of Casco Bay. Today was a crystal-clear, warm yet crisp, blue-sky Autumn day. We ate apples and picked pumpkins and ended up watching brand-new baby cow learning to walk by its mother.
We went to Brunswick to have lunch with my dad and help him move some heavy stuff around the house, then came home for work/naptime. Vi slept for a good two hours while Dan and I took care of housework/work-work. I made the best pizza ever, talked to my grandmother on the phone, then sent Vi off to bed happily.
Now, once I'm done posting these photos, Dan and I are going to watch Miami Vice. Ooh. Not a great date movie, but hopefully it will be fun in some way. Here are some photos from the last few weeks.
(Oh, you may notice that Vi now has bangs. I got tired of the losing battle with barrettes.)
http://picasaweb.google.com/linzwalsh/October2008#
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Sitting on the floor, laughing
This is what we do.
Dan and I sit on the floor, and watch Vi wander around the house. We hear her silly soliloquy of thoroughly-enunciated nonsense words, and repeat the noises back to her as if they were real words and we're seeking clarification or remarking on her insight. It often sounds like "Philadelphia Gilda Radner Lovenox?" or "Botox Zimbabwe, uh-huh, I know..." She stumbles around, tries to run, chases the dog, casts us a knowing glance with nose wrinkled, kisses the cat, pauses for a snack, then keeps moving. She's VERY BUSY. She seems to be saying, "Are you getting this? I'm hilarious."
Vi has three official words, in order of frequency:
1) Woof
2) Meow
3) Down (which comes out as "goooowwwww," always slightly growled.)
"Meow" started out as "now," with a long, drawn -out but not stuttered "n," said in the sweetest tone of voice. "Woof" comes out whenever she hears a dog barking - which, in our neighborhood, is very often.
Vi has picked up on some sign language, too. Some of our friends are doing the baby sign language thing, some are doing ASL...we're not REALLY doing either. It looked really interesting, so I decided to try a couple of signs that I looked up online at http://www.aslpro.com/cgi-bin/aslpro/aslpro.cgi. Obviously, we started with dog, cat, and down. She picked up dog within three or four days, and started using it for everything furry. She would point at a cat and sign dog while saying "nnnnnow." So, we started showing her the sign for cat pretty diligently. She resisted for a long time, then suddenly, this weekend, she got it. Down is pretty easy - pointing down. We also looked up food, more, water, airplane, mother and father. She will sometimes do the food sign, will usually repeat the sign for more when we ask if she wants more while signing, and makes her own special hand-in-the-air gesture whenever she sees a plane.
It really amazes me, how much she is learning, how much she can learn, how much she is innately capable of doing. Some times we are too tired to chase her, so we literally just sit on the floor and allow ourselves to be entertained. She was so silly tonight - crashing into things then giggling, walking around holding a book in front of her face, chasing the dog, screaming out the back door, climbing over and around me...at one point she fell down on her bum and just started laughing. I couldn't help but join in, and we went back and forth giggling at each other for several minutes.
Suddenly I don't have a baby - I have a child. And she cracks me right up.
Dan and I sit on the floor, and watch Vi wander around the house. We hear her silly soliloquy of thoroughly-enunciated nonsense words, and repeat the noises back to her as if they were real words and we're seeking clarification or remarking on her insight. It often sounds like "Philadelphia Gilda Radner Lovenox?" or "Botox Zimbabwe, uh-huh, I know..." She stumbles around, tries to run, chases the dog, casts us a knowing glance with nose wrinkled, kisses the cat, pauses for a snack, then keeps moving. She's VERY BUSY. She seems to be saying, "Are you getting this? I'm hilarious."
Vi has three official words, in order of frequency:
1) Woof
2) Meow
3) Down (which comes out as "goooowwwww," always slightly growled.)
"Meow" started out as "now," with a long, drawn -out but not stuttered "n," said in the sweetest tone of voice. "Woof" comes out whenever she hears a dog barking - which, in our neighborhood, is very often.
Vi has picked up on some sign language, too. Some of our friends are doing the baby sign language thing, some are doing ASL...we're not REALLY doing either. It looked really interesting, so I decided to try a couple of signs that I looked up online at http://www.aslpro.com/cgi-bin/aslpro/aslpro.cgi. Obviously, we started with dog, cat, and down. She picked up dog within three or four days, and started using it for everything furry. She would point at a cat and sign dog while saying "nnnnnow." So, we started showing her the sign for cat pretty diligently. She resisted for a long time, then suddenly, this weekend, she got it. Down is pretty easy - pointing down. We also looked up food, more, water, airplane, mother and father. She will sometimes do the food sign, will usually repeat the sign for more when we ask if she wants more while signing, and makes her own special hand-in-the-air gesture whenever she sees a plane.
It really amazes me, how much she is learning, how much she can learn, how much she is innately capable of doing. Some times we are too tired to chase her, so we literally just sit on the floor and allow ourselves to be entertained. She was so silly tonight - crashing into things then giggling, walking around holding a book in front of her face, chasing the dog, screaming out the back door, climbing over and around me...at one point she fell down on her bum and just started laughing. I couldn't help but join in, and we went back and forth giggling at each other for several minutes.
Suddenly I don't have a baby - I have a child. And she cracks me right up.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Tax cut, anyone?
I rarely get into politics here, but in my work, I often hear small business owners worry about their tax exposure under a new administration.
I came across an interesting, simple site that uses actual tax policy from the two candidates to show how their tax plans would affect you:
www.obamataxcut.com
I recommend you visit it just to see for yourself!
And that's all I'm going to say here on the topic! If you want to hear me rave on about my side or rant about the other side, let me know. This site isn't intended for politics. It is a way of documenting life as we know it for Vi, and in our home, this election is very exciting and a favorite topic. Maybe I'll start another blog...in my free time...
I came across an interesting, simple site that uses actual tax policy from the two candidates to show how their tax plans would affect you:
www.obamataxcut.com
I recommend you visit it just to see for yourself!
And that's all I'm going to say here on the topic! If you want to hear me rave on about my side or rant about the other side, let me know. This site isn't intended for politics. It is a way of documenting life as we know it for Vi, and in our home, this election is very exciting and a favorite topic. Maybe I'll start another blog...in my free time...
Monday, September 8, 2008
Hurray! Pictures from my sister!
Once again, I have an amazing collection of photos to share with you, thanks to my sister.
In July we put on a baby shower for my sister-in-law (who is now proud mommy to Addie!!). Vi was all dressed up and extra-silly for the party:
She loooooooves Purple Bear. She snuggles Purple Bear. She kisses and hugs Purple Bear.
In July we put on a baby shower for my sister-in-law (who is now proud mommy to Addie!!). Vi was all dressed up and extra-silly for the party:
Vi and Mama all gussied up.
Super silly.
Aunt Noelle not only took pretty pictures, she also brought Vi her first birthday gift. Vi was more than a bit tickled over her new Purple Bear.
She loooooooves Purple Bear. She snuggles Purple Bear. She kisses and hugs Purple Bear.(Seriously - all the time. She freakin' loves this fuzzy guy!)
Vi in her party dress, standing over the air vent.
Here are the rest of the pictures for slideshow viewing:
Thanks, Wellie!!!!! XOXO
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Welcome to the World, Addie!
My niece, Adelaide, was born this morning. Mom, Baby and Dad are all doing well. Check her out:
All newborn and asleep and sweet...I can't wait to kiss that little baby nose.
All newborn and asleep and sweet...I can't wait to kiss that little baby nose.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Quick update!
Vi is walking - a bit. A few steps at a time.
Vi has her first pair of shoes. Although she removes them within minutes, she eventually finds them and holds them up to me, with a frantic look in her eye and a loud request from her mouth to have them put back on.
She's pointing with intention, not just to see how her finger feels in that position. We've had to hide certain foods from her - teething biscuits, mostly - to keep her diet varied.
She's trying out new dance moves all the time. I'll try to get some video clips of it to post.
My sister Noelle was in New England over the weekend for our sister-in-law's baby shower. In addition to photo-journaling the party, she took several beautiful pictures of Vi. I'll post them when I can.
I had more to say, specific stories to post, but I can't seem to remember any of them. Plus, I'm at work, and should 'focus, pocus' as my new dear friend Adrianne would remind me.
Vi has her first pair of shoes. Although she removes them within minutes, she eventually finds them and holds them up to me, with a frantic look in her eye and a loud request from her mouth to have them put back on.
She's pointing with intention, not just to see how her finger feels in that position. We've had to hide certain foods from her - teething biscuits, mostly - to keep her diet varied.
She's trying out new dance moves all the time. I'll try to get some video clips of it to post.
My sister Noelle was in New England over the weekend for our sister-in-law's baby shower. In addition to photo-journaling the party, she took several beautiful pictures of Vi. I'll post them when I can.
I had more to say, specific stories to post, but I can't seem to remember any of them. Plus, I'm at work, and should 'focus, pocus' as my new dear friend Adrianne would remind me.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
What a day! (And not in a good way)
Poor Baby Vi has been sick all week. We thought she was getting a little fever on Sunday night due to teething, but it kept going up and up. She hasn't wanted to eat, she's had weird diapers (and we'll just leave it at that), and she's been pale, shy and anti-social. Even people who rarely see her said she must not be feeling well, just by the looks of her.
(By the way - I'm feeling a bit exhausted, which you'll understand by the end of this post, so I'm not going to worry about grammar so much. There will be paragraphs that just run on and on...oh, well. Read another blog if it bothers you.)
I decided today, when she wouldn't really let me take her temperature in her ear, to get her in to see the doctor. Her usual doctor is on vacation, so I accepted an appointment with the NP on staff. I tend to like Nurse Practicioners quite a bit, and this one turned out to be great. (Karen Weiss, UHC for Kids. Hurray, Karen!) What I didn't expect was a student to be shadowing her, which meant that Vi had to have everything done twice. I('m usually open to meeting with a student, but by the end of round two, I'm a little frustrated that I've had to repeat myself. Sometimes I get a bit paranoid, like the student DID tell the teacher everything, but the teacher is trying to catch me with an inconsistency. "Psycho-somatic! I'm giving you some Prozac!" I imagine them yelling at me. But that's just crazy old me...) In any case, the student was great, just a little hesitant with Vi, but very nice. They ruled out everything but a urinary tract infection, so we decided to get a urine sample! No, I didn't have to chase her around with a cup trying to catch pee. They have these little plastic bags that look just like vacuum bags - you know how vacuum bags have the hose-attachment hole, with the cardboard around it? It looked just like that, but with a u-shaped sponge around the hole, and weak, band-aid-like adhesive on the outside to stick onto her Va-jay-jay, as my Aunt Raylene would say. So, we stuck it on and waited for her to fill it. And waited. And waited.
She didn't "void" while at the doctor's office, so we came home, hoping she'd sleep a bit, as she'd been refusing a nap all day. She fell asleep on the way home, then woke up the second we walked through the door. Grammy was there, so Vi wanted to get up and be cute and giggle and act like she was well for a few moments, before collapsing into a sweaty, fussy mess. She finally peed around 12:30, then fell asleep for an hour or so. Grammy hung out with her while I took the sample to the lab, and ran an errand for work.
(Oh, yeah. Work! Right. I work for a living. I had, oh, seven or eight very important things to do today, some of which involve a marketing event I'm coordinating for Friday. Day-after-tomorrow Friday. Picking up collateral from two different printers. Dropping of freebie-logo items at the event site, introducing myself to the host and surveying the site, etc. Plus it's payroll tax week - quarterlies and monthlies due at the same time. Sales tax week - all due Tuesday. Year-end for two clients. And those are only the out-of-the-ordinary tasks for this week!)
I got to the lab with the sample, and no paperwork. I had to wait at the lab for the pediatrician to fax the labwork request, then rush to the event site to meet with the host.
Did you notice that I used the word rush? What do you think happened next? What could make this day even more awesome?
That's right. I got pulled over for speeding. I haven't been pulled over in 11 years!! Between my squeaky-clean driving record and the fact that noone dares screw with a Mama whose baby is sick, I got off with just a warning.
After all was done, errands and tasks delegated to my WONDERFUL CO-WORKERS Mark and Diana, Vi and I came home and I tried to get her down for a nap. Just as she was drifting off to sleep, Dan came through the front door and said "I got tired of so I came home." Sick baby. Sick husband.
I skipped a part about both print jobs getting screwed up, and the host of the event not even being available to meet with me.
It's 82 degrees Farenheit inside my house, my brain is melting, and needless to say it doesn't smell good in here.
So, how was YOUR day? If you thought it was a bad one, just think of me and feel a bit better. There's always someone who had a worse day, isn't there?
(By the way - I'm feeling a bit exhausted, which you'll understand by the end of this post, so I'm not going to worry about grammar so much. There will be paragraphs that just run on and on...oh, well. Read another blog if it bothers you.)
I decided today, when she wouldn't really let me take her temperature in her ear, to get her in to see the doctor. Her usual doctor is on vacation, so I accepted an appointment with the NP on staff. I tend to like Nurse Practicioners quite a bit, and this one turned out to be great. (Karen Weiss, UHC for Kids. Hurray, Karen!) What I didn't expect was a student to be shadowing her, which meant that Vi had to have everything done twice. I('m usually open to meeting with a student, but by the end of round two, I'm a little frustrated that I've had to repeat myself. Sometimes I get a bit paranoid, like the student DID tell the teacher everything, but the teacher is trying to catch me with an inconsistency. "Psycho-somatic! I'm giving you some Prozac!" I imagine them yelling at me. But that's just crazy old me...) In any case, the student was great, just a little hesitant with Vi, but very nice. They ruled out everything but a urinary tract infection, so we decided to get a urine sample! No, I didn't have to chase her around with a cup trying to catch pee. They have these little plastic bags that look just like vacuum bags - you know how vacuum bags have the hose-attachment hole, with the cardboard around it? It looked just like that, but with a u-shaped sponge around the hole, and weak, band-aid-like adhesive on the outside to stick onto her Va-jay-jay, as my Aunt Raylene would say. So, we stuck it on and waited for her to fill it. And waited. And waited.
She didn't "void" while at the doctor's office, so we came home, hoping she'd sleep a bit, as she'd been refusing a nap all day. She fell asleep on the way home, then woke up the second we walked through the door. Grammy was there, so Vi wanted to get up and be cute and giggle and act like she was well for a few moments, before collapsing into a sweaty, fussy mess. She finally peed around 12:30, then fell asleep for an hour or so. Grammy hung out with her while I took the sample to the lab, and ran an errand for work.
(Oh, yeah. Work! Right. I work for a living. I had, oh, seven or eight very important things to do today, some of which involve a marketing event I'm coordinating for Friday. Day-after-tomorrow Friday. Picking up collateral from two different printers. Dropping of freebie-logo items at the event site, introducing myself to the host and surveying the site, etc. Plus it's payroll tax week - quarterlies and monthlies due at the same time. Sales tax week - all due Tuesday. Year-end for two clients. And those are only the out-of-the-ordinary tasks for this week!)
I got to the lab with the sample, and no paperwork. I had to wait at the lab for the pediatrician to fax the labwork request, then rush to the event site to meet with the host.
Did you notice that I used the word rush? What do you think happened next? What could make this day even more awesome?
That's right. I got pulled over for speeding. I haven't been pulled over in 11 years!! Between my squeaky-clean driving record and the fact that noone dares screw with a Mama whose baby is sick, I got off with just a warning.
After all was done, errands and tasks delegated to my WONDERFUL CO-WORKERS Mark and Diana, Vi and I came home and I tried to get her down for a nap. Just as she was drifting off to sleep, Dan came through the front door and said "I got tired of
I skipped a part about both print jobs getting screwed up, and the host of the event not even being available to meet with me.
It's 82 degrees Farenheit inside my house, my brain is melting, and needless to say it doesn't smell good in here.
So, how was YOUR day? If you thought it was a bad one, just think of me and feel a bit better. There's always someone who had a worse day, isn't there?
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Long time, no write!
It's been a very long time since I had a spare moment, and chose to use it writing here. So much has happened!
Vi is crawling and cruising (for you laypeople - that means pulling herself up into standing, and sort of walking around while holding onto furniture). She is babbling, still. As you can see below, she is pointing. At everything. All the time. Sometimes, she points up with both hands, then cocks her head to the side and shrugs. Talk about cute!! When she's crawling away from me, I say, "Excuse me, Miss?" and she stops, turns, giggles, then continues along her way. As if to say, "Yeah? You talkin' to me? Talk to my taillights, 'cuz I'm outta here." She still emits a loud, crystal-shattering shriek whenever Mitten saunters into eyesight. (She also made this noise at an airline stewardess mid-flight. Almost made her spill my tomato juice.)
We drove to Westwood, MA for a bridal shower two weeks ago. Vi slept the entire way there and back, and was great at the party. She oohed and aahed as Haley opened her gifts. She flipped through her ABC board book. One of the games at the shower was for the bride to answer 'trivia' questions about the groom. One question was "what book is Jared currently reading?" The correct answer was, "He's not reading anything right now." Someone piped up and said, "That baby's reading more than your fiance'!" Okay...you had to be there. Funnier in the moment.
She really IS reading a lot...if you put a pile of toys and a pile of books in front of her, she will paw through the books first.
One thing she's not doing is sleeping well. Not napping for me during the day (she napped for a brand-new babysitter the other day, but for me? No.) and certainly not sleeping through the night. Not "sleeping like a baby" at all. Whoever came up with that phrase is an idiot. We've tried the go-to-sleep routine. We've tried the let-her-cry for just-a-minute routine. We've tried keeping her in bed. She just won't give us a real pattern to follow, or try to adapt! When one starts to emerge, so do four new teeth, so she's up in pain. Or she'll get a cold. Or a vaccination. I know how tired I am - I haven't had more than a dozen full nights of sleep in 18 months! She must be pretty tired, too. Not sure where she gets all of her giggling and crawling energy from.
She's eating a lot, too. Avocado, carrots, potatoes. Pears, apples, blueberries. Oatmeal, barley, rice. Bread, Pirate's Booty, Cheerios. She has days when she insists on self-feeding, and others when the spoon can't get from mouth to bowl to mouth fast enough. She has six teeth - four on top, two on the bottom. Her toothy grin keeps getting cuter. She was "kissing" Dan last night (this involves a lot of drool and a slimy baby tongue on your cheek) and decided to chomp down on his cheek. He has a big red mark from it! And yes, I'm still breastfeeding. No injuries to report.
Grammy (my mom) is back to feeling herself, and has been coming to watch Vi twice a week for the past couple of weeks. She'll continue doing one day a week, and may stick to two if she wants to. Vi crawls towards her, screeching and smiling, every time she arrives.
Other family news:
Dad had a 1.6 cm kidney stone lithotripsied-out two weeks ago. Suddenly his back doesn't hurt anymore. :-)
Steph is showing and glowing, as she should be! I forget how beautiful a pregnant woman can be!
They'll be moving back to NYC after the baby comes - JD first, for work, then Steph to follow.
Ben has started T-Ball, and Noelle is the coach. (Co-coaching with Mr. McHotty.)
Noelle broke/sprained her foot the other day.
I broke a toe the next day in sympathy.
Dan is super-busy with work again. It's that time of year - he works in retail, for a marine supplier. His weeks have gone from a standard 45 hours to about 60+ hours. He doesn't get paid overtime, and there are days when he leaves so early and gets home so late that he doesn't see Vi at all. I know it's a good job, but it seems like other people would do this "paying your dues" thing for a couple of years to get ahead...and we just keep paying and paying and paying, and getting further behind. And we miss him. It's hard being a single mom for a few hours each day - I can't imagine doing it full-time.
After a long search full of FRUIT LOOPS, LUNATICS, and FLAKES...we finally found a mother's helper/babysitter to come watch Vi on my work-at-home days. She's got a great attitude, is super-helpful, has great instincts with Vi, and Vi loves her. Feet-kicking, screeching and pointing when she arrives. :-)
Work has finally levelled off for me...funny how childcare has helped me get caught up, eh?
Spring is finally here - the lilacs are in bloom, my tulips are all up (well, the ones that remain after the squirrel pillaging), the sun is shining..! Springtime in Maine is the best. We got our inaugural ice cream cone a couple of weeks ago. It's so nice to get out, too. Even a quick stroll around the block, or just sitting on a blanket in the grass, is such a much-needed change of pace. Summer will be here soon, and it's a busy one. We have four weddings (well, 3 weddings and one Civil Union) to attend, seven family birthdays, one anniversary, several friends' and babies' birthdays, lots of fish to catch, squash to grill, weeds to pull, and grass-stains to get. I'm dying to get Vi into a pool somewhere, too. She has a couple of swim suits already...yes, I'll post some pictures. :-)
She's still asleep, so I should really be getting some work done, some laundry folded, some dishes washed...something.
Thanks for reading my ramblings. Looking forward to seeing some of you as you come to Maine this summer!!!
Vi is crawling and cruising (for you laypeople - that means pulling herself up into standing, and sort of walking around while holding onto furniture). She is babbling, still. As you can see below, she is pointing. At everything. All the time. Sometimes, she points up with both hands, then cocks her head to the side and shrugs. Talk about cute!! When she's crawling away from me, I say, "Excuse me, Miss?" and she stops, turns, giggles, then continues along her way. As if to say, "Yeah? You talkin' to me? Talk to my taillights, 'cuz I'm outta here." She still emits a loud, crystal-shattering shriek whenever Mitten saunters into eyesight. (She also made this noise at an airline stewardess mid-flight. Almost made her spill my tomato juice.)
We drove to Westwood, MA for a bridal shower two weeks ago. Vi slept the entire way there and back, and was great at the party. She oohed and aahed as Haley opened her gifts. She flipped through her ABC board book. One of the games at the shower was for the bride to answer 'trivia' questions about the groom. One question was "what book is Jared currently reading?" The correct answer was, "He's not reading anything right now." Someone piped up and said, "That baby's reading more than your fiance'!" Okay...you had to be there. Funnier in the moment.
She really IS reading a lot...if you put a pile of toys and a pile of books in front of her, she will paw through the books first.
One thing she's not doing is sleeping well. Not napping for me during the day (she napped for a brand-new babysitter the other day, but for me? No.) and certainly not sleeping through the night. Not "sleeping like a baby" at all. Whoever came up with that phrase is an idiot. We've tried the go-to-sleep routine. We've tried the let-her-cry for just-a-minute routine. We've tried keeping her in bed. She just won't give us a real pattern to follow, or try to adapt! When one starts to emerge, so do four new teeth, so she's up in pain. Or she'll get a cold. Or a vaccination. I know how tired I am - I haven't had more than a dozen full nights of sleep in 18 months! She must be pretty tired, too. Not sure where she gets all of her giggling and crawling energy from.
She's eating a lot, too. Avocado, carrots, potatoes. Pears, apples, blueberries. Oatmeal, barley, rice. Bread, Pirate's Booty, Cheerios. She has days when she insists on self-feeding, and others when the spoon can't get from mouth to bowl to mouth fast enough. She has six teeth - four on top, two on the bottom. Her toothy grin keeps getting cuter. She was "kissing" Dan last night (this involves a lot of drool and a slimy baby tongue on your cheek) and decided to chomp down on his cheek. He has a big red mark from it! And yes, I'm still breastfeeding. No injuries to report.
Grammy (my mom) is back to feeling herself, and has been coming to watch Vi twice a week for the past couple of weeks. She'll continue doing one day a week, and may stick to two if she wants to. Vi crawls towards her, screeching and smiling, every time she arrives.
Other family news:
Dad had a 1.6 cm kidney stone lithotripsied-out two weeks ago. Suddenly his back doesn't hurt anymore. :-)
Steph is showing and glowing, as she should be! I forget how beautiful a pregnant woman can be!
They'll be moving back to NYC after the baby comes - JD first, for work, then Steph to follow.
Ben has started T-Ball, and Noelle is the coach. (Co-coaching with Mr. McHotty.)
Noelle broke/sprained her foot the other day.
I broke a toe the next day in sympathy.
Dan is super-busy with work again. It's that time of year - he works in retail, for a marine supplier. His weeks have gone from a standard 45 hours to about 60+ hours. He doesn't get paid overtime, and there are days when he leaves so early and gets home so late that he doesn't see Vi at all. I know it's a good job, but it seems like other people would do this "paying your dues" thing for a couple of years to get ahead...and we just keep paying and paying and paying, and getting further behind. And we miss him. It's hard being a single mom for a few hours each day - I can't imagine doing it full-time.
After a long search full of FRUIT LOOPS, LUNATICS, and FLAKES...we finally found a mother's helper/babysitter to come watch Vi on my work-at-home days. She's got a great attitude, is super-helpful, has great instincts with Vi, and Vi loves her. Feet-kicking, screeching and pointing when she arrives. :-)
Work has finally levelled off for me...funny how childcare has helped me get caught up, eh?
Spring is finally here - the lilacs are in bloom, my tulips are all up (well, the ones that remain after the squirrel pillaging), the sun is shining..! Springtime in Maine is the best. We got our inaugural ice cream cone a couple of weeks ago. It's so nice to get out, too. Even a quick stroll around the block, or just sitting on a blanket in the grass, is such a much-needed change of pace. Summer will be here soon, and it's a busy one. We have four weddings (well, 3 weddings and one Civil Union) to attend, seven family birthdays, one anniversary, several friends' and babies' birthdays, lots of fish to catch, squash to grill, weeds to pull, and grass-stains to get. I'm dying to get Vi into a pool somewhere, too. She has a couple of swim suits already...yes, I'll post some pictures. :-)
She's still asleep, so I should really be getting some work done, some laundry folded, some dishes washed...something.
Thanks for reading my ramblings. Looking forward to seeing some of you as you come to Maine this summer!!!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Emails from friends
A sweet email from a dear friend, loaded with "how are you" questions, prompted me to STOP for a moment and write about our busy lives. Here's my reply...
How is Vi? What’s she up to?
Vi is great. She’s up to lots…sucking on her toes, pushing herself up on her knees when in tummy time, NOT rolling over very much, talking up a storm, pooping a LOT, loving avocados and apples and pears and rice cereal but HATING (squished-up-face, hands-in-front-of-mouth, moaning and frowning and ducking the oncoming spoon) squash. I don’t blame her – it smells horrible. She had her 6 month checkup yesterday – she’s 28 ½ inches tall/long, 16 pounds, 1 ounce…109th percentile for height, 50th for weight, and 75th for head…they kept saying she must have a lot of brains in there. Doc said it’s okay that she’s not rolling over very much…since she’s able to, but not doing it, maybe she doesn’t LIKE rolling over. Hmm. Leah said Hannah doesn’t roll over, either. I’m all, “BUT SHE’S NEVER GOING TO LEARN TO READ IF SHE CAN’T ROLL OVER!!!!!!” which is apparently not true.
How’s Mom?
Mom’s…okay. Thanks for asking. She’s really down…so much going on, so much to think about, not much to DO, though. I’m hoping she finds some way to get her body’s energy flowing better. I'm anxious for her to get back to her energetic, silly self.
Is Dan enjoying his time at the Gaylord in Florida?
Dan really liked the Gaylord Palm. His room had a computer with free internet, he had his good buddy Lucas as a roommate (they’re so funny…when the registration form comes out, they both put down each others’ names as their 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice for roommate!). The food was not great…I guess they had spaghetti for dinner the first night, a single egg sandwich for breakfast. He sounded exhausted this morning when we spoke. He’s supposed to touch down at PWM at 3:40 today…weather permitting. I hope they’re able to get here…I’m tired of being a single mom!!! I can’t imagine doing this on an ongoing basis.
How’s tax preparation time coming along?
Tax prep…yuck! I am so, so, so busy at work. Vi comes with me most days, which is great and fun and stressful all at the same time. I’m making very slow progress on my projects. I’m hoping to get in some extra work next week and wrap up a few things.
Who do you think will be the next president?
I’m thinking it’s going to be an Obama-Edwards ticket, winning out over McCain and whoever is crazy enough to accept the VP invitation. I’m really bummed that Edwards pulled out…he was the only one who really spoke to me on any issues. I can’t see any of the Republicans winning, but I’m really concerned that people will get the Bradley effect in the polling stations in November…and vote for White Guy instead of Black Guy or Woman. I hope a Dem. wins…not just because I identify more with that party than the Republicans, being a Green, but also because it’s so exciting to think we’ll get to see the first African-American or female president. What an inspiration to our kids.
Had any lavender custard lately?
Ooh! Lavender custard!!!!! That sounds amazing. Maybe I’ll borrow my mom’s ice cream maker and whip some up.
Any-who... that's the news from the Walsh household. It's been a rather lonely winter here...with me working so much and sleeping so little, it's left very little time for socializing. I'd love to hear from any of you...how are YOU? What are you and yours up to? Keep in touch.
Love,
Linz
How is Vi? What’s she up to?
Vi is great. She’s up to lots…sucking on her toes, pushing herself up on her knees when in tummy time, NOT rolling over very much, talking up a storm, pooping a LOT, loving avocados and apples and pears and rice cereal but HATING (squished-up-face, hands-in-front-of-mouth, moaning and frowning and ducking the oncoming spoon) squash. I don’t blame her – it smells horrible. She had her 6 month checkup yesterday – she’s 28 ½ inches tall/long, 16 pounds, 1 ounce…109th percentile for height, 50th for weight, and 75th for head…they kept saying she must have a lot of brains in there. Doc said it’s okay that she’s not rolling over very much…since she’s able to, but not doing it, maybe she doesn’t LIKE rolling over. Hmm. Leah said Hannah doesn’t roll over, either. I’m all, “BUT SHE’S NEVER GOING TO LEARN TO READ IF SHE CAN’T ROLL OVER!!!!!!” which is apparently not true.
How’s Mom?
Mom’s…okay. Thanks for asking. She’s really down…so much going on, so much to think about, not much to DO, though. I’m hoping she finds some way to get her body’s energy flowing better. I'm anxious for her to get back to her energetic, silly self.
Is Dan enjoying his time at the Gaylord in Florida?
Dan really liked the Gaylord Palm. His room had a computer with free internet, he had his good buddy Lucas as a roommate (they’re so funny…when the registration form comes out, they both put down each others’ names as their 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice for roommate!). The food was not great…I guess they had spaghetti for dinner the first night, a single egg sandwich for breakfast. He sounded exhausted this morning when we spoke. He’s supposed to touch down at PWM at 3:40 today…weather permitting. I hope they’re able to get here…I’m tired of being a single mom!!! I can’t imagine doing this on an ongoing basis.
How’s tax preparation time coming along?
Tax prep…yuck! I am so, so, so busy at work. Vi comes with me most days, which is great and fun and stressful all at the same time. I’m making very slow progress on my projects. I’m hoping to get in some extra work next week and wrap up a few things.
Who do you think will be the next president?
I’m thinking it’s going to be an Obama-Edwards ticket, winning out over McCain and whoever is crazy enough to accept the VP invitation. I’m really bummed that Edwards pulled out…he was the only one who really spoke to me on any issues. I can’t see any of the Republicans winning, but I’m really concerned that people will get the Bradley effect in the polling stations in November…and vote for White Guy instead of Black Guy or Woman. I hope a Dem. wins…not just because I identify more with that party than the Republicans, being a Green, but also because it’s so exciting to think we’ll get to see the first African-American or female president. What an inspiration to our kids.
Had any lavender custard lately?
Ooh! Lavender custard!!!!! That sounds amazing. Maybe I’ll borrow my mom’s ice cream maker and whip some up.
Any-who... that's the news from the Walsh household. It's been a rather lonely winter here...with me working so much and sleeping so little, it's left very little time for socializing. I'd love to hear from any of you...how are YOU? What are you and yours up to? Keep in touch.
Love,
Linz
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