UPDATE
Here is that photographic evidence... at least, as much evidence as she will allow. The bottom middle tooth on the left is the one that is in, you can see it there just peeking out between her tongue and gums.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
We have TOOTH!
That same tooth that we all saw looming under her gums around 4 months ago has finally made its appearance! Well, mostly. She chomped on my finger this am and nearly cut me... Still not terribly easy to SEE the little sucker, but you sure can feel that sharp edge! Photographic evidence to follow as soon as possible. I must run now, she's crawled into a corner and gotten herself stuck...
UPDATE
Here is that photographic evidence... at least, as much evidence as she will allow. The bottom middle tooth on the left is the one that is in, you can see it there just peeking out between her tongue and gums.
UPDATE
Here is that photographic evidence... at least, as much evidence as she will allow. The bottom middle tooth on the left is the one that is in, you can see it there just peeking out between her tongue and gums.
Monday, September 22, 2008
The Vocabulary of a New Parent
In the midst of an email exchange with my lovely mother-in-law I realized that the vocabulary of a new parent does not necessarily include new words and phrases, but that the MEANING of those words and phrases changes drastically.
For example:
sleeping in
For example:
sleeping in
- To a nonparent, this implies continous sleep from the time one enters bed until a time to be determined solely by the body and brain as they figure out they are rested and/or hungry the following day.
- To a new parent, this is any time past 5 am that the baby allows you to sleep, regardless of how many times you have woken up already in the night; the secondary definition also includes the opportunity to go back to bed at any time before 9 am and obtain at least 1 hour of sleep.
- To a nonparent this is the simple task of dusting, vacuuming, and picking up ones abode
- To the new parent this is a herculean task that requires teamwork and several consecutive days, at least if both are working. In our case, we pick up 2x a week, vacuum and dust on Friday, alternate the cleaning of bathrooms, etc. and the house is never entirely CLEAN AND NEAT from top to bottom on a single day. We manage to stave of the onslaught of dirt and destruction, but I'd hate for a white glove inspection...
- To a nonparent this implies a date or otherwise interesting outing away from home and the rigors of one's job for a purely entertaining reason.
- To a new parent this is any time that one actually exits the premises of the house. For example, yesterday I went out and bought diapers. It was exciting. Today? I shall "go out" and get the mail.
- To a nonparent this is when you feel mildly sleepy and/or have overdone things a little at work and play
- To a new parent the former is a standard state of being and "tired" actually implies something akin to sleepwalking where "tired" reaches out and slaps you in the face repeatedly merely to keep you from walking into walls.
- To a nonparent this is when it has rained outside, or one has freshly exited the shower or pool
- To a new parent this is a state of being that travels from the baby's own person (diaper/drool/spit) to oneself (pee, drool, spitup)
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Admirable
(this is the chairs before cleansing)
Im very impressed with myself today. I've been surfing craigslist for months looking for specific things; sometimes I find them, sometimes I dont. This week I came across several promising ads for bar stools, which we've been needing. We had lots of mismatched and uncomfortable chairs, but nothing that was... RIGHT. I finally made an offer on two wood counter height barstools that said they needed recovering. I picked them up last night and they were a bit scratched looking and the fabric looked stained. Got them home and Hubband washed the seats and Pledged the wood and they are in PERFECT condition. These things were just FILTHY. Our sink was literally brown with dirt. Now? I have two beautiful barstools and I only paid 15 dollars each. Woot!
Monday, September 15, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Rebecca Lillian
Our newest niece joined the family at 12:35 pm today, weighing in at 7 lbs 2 oz. She and DangerElf are both doing good. Welcome to the family, Rebecca!!
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Monday, September 08, 2008
Exhaustion
I think the body gets used to lack of sleep in a way that when you do actually achieve rest it has no idea what to do with itself and tries to shut down. BabyBee has been waking up several times each night again of late and I prepared for it last night by turning out my light by 10 pm. She woke briefly at 5 or so, whimpered and fussed for about 15 minutes and then just as we were getting up to get her she fell asleep again... until 6. I had a 7 hour stretch, straight. So the only way I can explain how dreadfully tired and sleepy I am is that my body is confused by all the sleep and has decided that it needs more. To fake it out even more, I think I will drink 2 cups of coffee instead of just one. Or maybe I'll do it just because I love coffee...
Friday, September 05, 2008
Communication
It really is amazing the things we take for granted in each other, and how quickly our views may be forced to change. In the last 6 months and 1 week, we have gone from being the frightened parents of a newborn to being parents of a little girl. From talking to each other about the baby, to talking to HER...and she responds.
If she is in her walker and you say "Come with me, Eleanor", she will trot along happily behind you to wherever you're going. I've found that if I tell her what I'm doing once or twice, she recognizes the action later. For example, I make coffee every morning, and the grinder used to scare her a little. I started telling her that I was making the coffee and the grinder would start before pushing the button, and now, as long as I tell her? She's fine. She'll even trot over to the coffee maker in her walker and wait for me in the morning as she knows that's my first destination.
I know to anyone who isn't a first time parent, these musings are probably a bit "old hat", but it just is so awesome to me to see my little girl understanding, and even trying to communicate back. Last Sabbath, as I was changing her diaper, she put her hand on my arm, waited until I looked at her, and said "Mama"; she then patted my arm twice and went back to chewing her duck.
And now to brag, because that whole stream of consciousness thing above was not bragging...really! But this morning, when she heard a toy squeak like her ducky? She said "BUCKY" and when Hubband tried to put her down after a diaper change without some liquid refreshment, she said "MAMA!"...and when she sees Priscilla? "UPPAH"
We joke that we're going to be like the mom in that cell phone commercial who has the chatterbox daughter and finally at 12 gives the kid a cell phone in self defense...except that I can't imagine ever not being interested in what she has to say. I can't imagine not wanting to hear about her views of life and the world. I may get tired of the WAY she says it, or if she says the same thing 20 times in a row, but I doubt it. Talking and communicating is such an amazing thing, after all (don't you like how I went from commentary to bragging and back to commentary so neatly? It wasn't planned, I promise). And could a writer and editor ever REALLY be tired of words? Especially those spoken by a miracle.
If she is in her walker and you say "Come with me, Eleanor", she will trot along happily behind you to wherever you're going. I've found that if I tell her what I'm doing once or twice, she recognizes the action later. For example, I make coffee every morning, and the grinder used to scare her a little. I started telling her that I was making the coffee and the grinder would start before pushing the button, and now, as long as I tell her? She's fine. She'll even trot over to the coffee maker in her walker and wait for me in the morning as she knows that's my first destination.
I know to anyone who isn't a first time parent, these musings are probably a bit "old hat", but it just is so awesome to me to see my little girl understanding, and even trying to communicate back. Last Sabbath, as I was changing her diaper, she put her hand on my arm, waited until I looked at her, and said "Mama"; she then patted my arm twice and went back to chewing her duck.
And now to brag, because that whole stream of consciousness thing above was not bragging...really! But this morning, when she heard a toy squeak like her ducky? She said "BUCKY" and when Hubband tried to put her down after a diaper change without some liquid refreshment, she said "MAMA!"...and when she sees Priscilla? "UPPAH"
We joke that we're going to be like the mom in that cell phone commercial who has the chatterbox daughter and finally at 12 gives the kid a cell phone in self defense...except that I can't imagine ever not being interested in what she has to say. I can't imagine not wanting to hear about her views of life and the world. I may get tired of the WAY she says it, or if she says the same thing 20 times in a row, but I doubt it. Talking and communicating is such an amazing thing, after all (don't you like how I went from commentary to bragging and back to commentary so neatly? It wasn't planned, I promise). And could a writer and editor ever REALLY be tired of words? Especially those spoken by a miracle.
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