Dear Del 11 months

Hi Baby Girl,
You.are.adorable! Yes, yes, sometimes it's I'm annoyed with the crankiness or the wanting to be held but mostly I try to remember that this is soooo short lived. I love love that you want snuggles. I am embarrassed to confess that I've really let you down in the babywearing department- and myself, for that matter. Mostly your in arms and then I get frustrated when I'm not so efficient doing daily tasks one handed. Instead of getting frustrated I really should commit to wearing you more. We'll work on that this month, sound good?

Yes, yes, your big grin shows off your four teeth clearly. You've had these teeth since about 5 months and I've been wondering when you will get any more. I don't think I would even think about it but I figured once you started with the whole teeth popping situation you would continue at a lively pace. But no. And then I noticed a playgroup friend's (a one year old- not a mom) debuting teeth were very evident when she was flipped upside down on her mom's lap. So I tried that.
Sure enough- two more top teeth are emerging. (Sorry they can't be seen in the next picture.)

Your social skills are blowing me away. I assume you're fairly active. You get around, you've started crawling stairs... that sort of thing. Then I see other babies (I will confess that these are all babies of the male persuasion) that are way more all-over-the-place. In comparison you are quite the social butterfly. Who knew? Maybe other people did- I didn't. You smile at anyone who glances your way. You also smile in an attempt to catch someone's attention... usually mid-nursing session. You may feel fine stopping mid-snack to give someone a grin but usually that person is concentrating very hard on not looking in the general baby-on-breast direction. You babble like you know what you're talking about and Daddy and I are regularly laughing at the sounds you come out with... and then... because we're giggling you start snickering too. Your signing has also been incredible. You're not very interested in watching Signing Time but you pick up on the signs we show you. A couple weeks ago Daddy asked if I had shown you the sign for book because you were signing something looking at a book. I came to see. You were signing shoes because there was a picture of shoes in the book. You don't even wear shoes! But you know the sign. You are also very very careful about signing "more". It takes a fair amount of concentration on your part- and I'm not convinced you know what it means (sometimes "milk", sometimes "hold me")- you focus on your fingers, get everything in the right place and then sign away. I think "milk" and "more and maybe "eat" are your signs so far.

You continue to be vocal enough to take care of yourself. Noah is learning (I will admit, slower than you or I would like) that when you scream growl you mean "no!". I often find him giving you a "squeeze hug".... around your head. Or laying on top of your back as you try to crawl away. Or... the other day I caught him throwing you (relatively speaking) to another part of the cushionless couch you both had climbed on to. All this practice of letting others know what you want has come in handy with other children too. Early this month we went to a play place in NH and when a little boy (big relative to you!) took a toy you had you scream growled at him. It was very effective. You got the toy back.

Just tonight you surprised me with how much you are learning and able to imitate. (These days whe people ask if you can do something- you know, dress yourself, count to ten, file our taxes- that sort of thing- I say: I don't know! maybe- you are just constantly surprising me with what you can do.) Lately I've been rocking you for a few minutes before putting you into the crib for the night (I used to rock you until you fell asleep). You seem to prefer this new arrangement even though it often takes longer. When you sit up I will stop rubbing your back and often pat the crib mattress in an attempt to show you that you need to lay back down to get back rubs. For the last couple nights you've sat up, patted the mattress in front of you, and plopped back down. Amazing. At least your completely neutral mother thinks so. Tonight I patted the mattress and also rubbed it from time to time. After seeing me do this one time you laid down. I started rubbing your back. You popped back up and patted the mattress but didn't lay down. I patted the mattress... and then rubbed it. So you rubbed the mattress. I patted. You patted. I rubbed. You rubbed. Fun game. Not effective going-to-bed strategy so we had to curb the fun before it got all crazy. But- all that to say- I was blow away that you were so intent on mimicking. I know, I know- every other baby does this- but they're not my baby and I think you're so incredible.
Keep doing what you're doing little one. I can't believe you're going to be a year next month! Woohoo!
Love you so very much,
Mommy

The big, crazy, mess

We make bread.
Frequently.
No, no- it's easy.
Honest.
In fact, I've been meaning to post pictures of the process and the recipe.
But something always comes up.
Like today.
Got home from work.
Ren Man left soon after to go to school.
And Ark Boy announced that he was laying down.
It was 4:30pm.
No way is the boy napping at 4:30pm.
Act crazy excited about making bread and ask if he wants to help.
"First we'll make bread.... then I'll lay down."
Whatever works.
Put Farm Girl in mei tai on back.
Hand off ingredients to Ark Boy.
He's dumping the last cup and....

"The bowl pushed me!"

He was on the ground flat on his back with flour everywhere.

In his eyes.
In his hair.
In his ears.
Remember he's tired.
And now needs a bath.
He loves baths... if only the pesky business of hair washing was not part of the whole "taking a bath" process.
He's not happy.

When I lifted his hair to wet it...
yep, there was more flour there too.
Poor kid.

Kids ate dinner (butter sandwich for him (at his request- not what I would pick); peas for her).
Cleaned kitchen floor.
Do you know how hard it is to clean wet flour that has partially dried off tile floor.
Baking soda to the rescue (this stuff is useful for e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g!).
But I had two cranky kids to put to bed.
And I'm not as committed to a clean kitchen floor as... say Ren Man is.
That is why, if you come over tomorrow, you may still see some white spots on the floor.
Ren Man came home and re-did the bread dough.
Kids were both in bed before 7pm.
I think I might follow them.

When in doubt....

and I really want to read something but I'm not feeling grabbed by one of the books on my list (my "to read" list that is currently 12 pages long) I read either a Jodi Picoult book or a Bill Bryson book. Picoult writes books delving into tricky topics of our time usually ending in a pivotal court case. Bryson writes travel novels based on his experience in a surprisingly laugh-out-loud way.
I recently read Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult, about a prosecutor who routinely prosecutes child molesters... and then her son is molested. In true Picoult style the twists are unexpected and add to the story.
I'm currently reading The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson, about Bryson's adventures as he travels across the US. Usually I find his writing witty and engaging. This is book is from the mid 80s. I'm finding his labeling of every black person he encounters (but not white); his description of every woman's behind if it's at all on the large side; and his drinking/sex immaturity frustrating. But I'm overlooking it as I love his clever assessments of the places he visits.
I've lately been panicking that I'm running out of these two authors books.
Decided to find a list of their books and see how many more I have to read.

Picoult's List
* Songs of the Humpback Whale (1992)
* Harvesting the Heart (1993)
* Picture Perfect (1995)
* Mercy (1996)
* Pact, the (1998)
* Keeping Faith (1999)
* Plain Truth (2000)
* Salem Falls (2001)
* Perfect Match (2002)
* Second Glance (2003)
* My Sister's Keeper (2005)
* Vanishing Acts (2005)
* Tenth Circle, the (2006)
* Nineteen Minutes (2007)
* Change of Heart (2008)

eek! only two more to go. Her 2009 book should be out next month too....

Let's see Bryson's List:
*The Palace Under the Alps and Over 200 Other Unusual, Unspoiled, and Infrequently Visited Spots in 16 European Countries (1985)
*The Lost Continent: Travels in Small-Town America (1989)-- currently reading
*Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe (1991)
*Notes from a Small Island (1995)
*A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail (1998)
*I'm a Stranger Here Myself: Notes on Returning to America After Twenty Years Away (1998)
*In a Sunburned Country (2000)
*Bill Bryson's African Diary (2002)
The Penguin Dictionary of Troublesome Words (1984)
The Mother Tongue: English and How it Got that Way (1990)
Made in America: An Informal History of the English Language in the United States (1994)
Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words (2002)
Bryson's Dictionary for Writers and Editors (2008)
A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003)-- tried to read and as engaging as Bryson is... couldn't do this one. It was a short history of nearly everything scientific... maybe if it had been about Neanderthals to present day people I would have been more interested?
On the Shoulders of Giants (2009)
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid (2006)
Shakespeare: The World as Stage (2007)

Oooh- so Bryson has done several things that are not travel novels. I'm a little gun shy when considering reading the non-travel books because of my experience with A Short History of Nearly Everything but I'm almost out of the travel novels....

I love reading and all of the books on my "to read" list are there because someone suggested they were a "must read". Have a suggestion? Let me know!

How a woman works

Started charting after Ark Boy was born.
Had no knowledge of charting before he was born.
Found it fairly empowering.
Amazing to know your body so well.
Didn't use it long because became pregnant soon after I started charting.
Started charting again this month.
Wondering what charting is?
A quick explanation:
A way to track your fertility.
Your cervical fluid, temperature, and cervix change throughout your cycle depending on where you are in your cycle.
Your morning temperature (taken by mouth) tends to be low-ish in the morning pre-ovulation.
Once ovulation has happened it increases and stays elevated until the cycle is over.
If it stays up past the estimated time of the end of your cylce then you are pregnant.
If someone comments asking for more detailed explanation I'm happy to give a lengthier explanation or you can check out the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler.
end of explanation.
Throughout the month I've been amazed at how consistent my temps have been pre-ovulation.
Then through cervical fluid awareness I knew that my temp should be rising soon.
It did.
And then I was amazed when my temp was fairly consistent in the high temp range.
There has been one drop that I couldn't explain half way through what should have been approximately two weeks of higher temps.
This morning it dropped again.
I was so annoyed.
How confusing my body is!
I know one reading shouldn't throw me but... argh!
Went to get in the shower.
Period has started.
That's why the temp dropped.
Back to feeling that a woman's body is a amazing.
We think it's a big mystery but if you can read the signs it's clear why your body is doing what it is- or it has been for me (barring one offs that I blow out of proportion).

Loving charting.

So I've been feeling yucky-ish today.
Doesn't help that every time I turn my head for a second Ark Boy has clobbered/pushed/kicked Farm Girl for some unexplainable reason.
I ask him why and he tells me what he did: ("eg I hit her)
ask again and he demonstrates what he did.
So curling up with chamomile tea and a hot water bottle.

V-day weekend

My sister came down for two nights this weekend!
This was the first time Ark Boy was REALLY into someone.
He followed her around everywhere and was constantly asking: "what am I doing?" because he wanted her to ask: "what are you doing?"
She didn't know that.
So she would answer his question
and he would ask the question again because she wasn't doing what he wanted.
And she'd answer again.
So he'd ask again.
etc.
She was getting frustrated.
He was being patient (sometimes adults are a little slow, you know).
He wanted to go with her into the bathroom.
She was not okay with that.
So he promised to wait outside the door for her.
He also promised not to make it dark for her (the light switch is on the outside of the bathroom.

We also had college friends come visit.
I happened to see on facebook that they were planning to be in the area this weekend so I sent them a message to say we'd love to see them if they had time.
It was very cool that they did make time for us!
We hadn't seen them since their wedding a couple years ago so it was very fun to catch up over Ren Man's pizza and some floor time for their baby.

Soon after they left my parents arrived!
I know, busy day.
Ark Boy was very excited.
He saw them pull up while bouncing on the couch.
*bounce* *bounce* "Nina is here.... Nina is here" *bounce* *bounce*
"POOBAH IS HERE!" *leap off couch and run for door*
We hadn't seen my parents for *gasp* a whole week- so it was fun to see them again.
And we're seeing them next weekend too! That will be four weekends in a row!

As my parents were on their way home they saw that the local cheap seats is showing Twilight.
My sister had already seen it but loves it and was up for another viewing.
Ren Man had little to no interest (more no than little).
So off we went for the 9:20 showing.
hmm.
I'm glad I saw it but umm...
disappointment is a little bit of an understatement.
They did so many things w.r.o.n.g and the acting.... horrendous!
I want to see future Twilight series movies just out of curiousity and I'm hoping the acting improves with practice.
We came to the conclusion (again) that one should see movies first then read the book.
The book is never a disappointment in comparison.
The book nicely fills in details.
It does however mean that you will not have unbiased perspective as far as the way things look (Edward and Bella and the bad vampire, what's his name? look nothing like what I expected, for instance. And the Cullen home is all off. And the school... okay, I'll stop).

Sunday Farm Girl and I went to NH for a very good friend's baby shower (for more pictures from that you can check out the Brown Eyed blog).
Everyone was asking how old he was.
hmm
here's what she was wearing (sitting on the great-grandmother-to-be lap).

And the mom-to-be opening gifts.

It was sooo great to see her.
She's another college friend so it was catch up central all weekend.
The only "inconvenient" thing is that these other people were at the shower.
Imagine!
Didn't they know that I really just wanted to hang out with Dani?
kidding.
kidding.
Just inspired me to make an effort to see her again soon.

My sister brought us yummy Champlain Chocolate Valentine's chocolates.
I meant to take a picture before they were gone but...
and no one is to blame but myself.
Oh well.
Just means we have to get chocolates next year, right?

Farm Girl does what?

The girl changes constantly.
To be fair- so does Ark Boy.
It's mind boggling.
But let's talk about Farm Girl.
From time to time she fusses (usually when I zoom past her on an important errand like.... checking my email, or grabbing breakfast, or picking toys up) to indicate that she wants me (I assume any adult would do, I just happen to be the one in hearing range).
Do you remember a couple weeks back when I said I found her on the first stair on the way up?
She's really good about stairs, the edge of the bed... she peaks over and then plops back down on her bum. The only danger comes when she has her back to the edge and doesn't realize that when she plops onto her bum... well there will be no plopping because there is no bed/floor behind her.

Sit down to breakfast with not so yummy oatmeal )but trying to avoid commercial cereal and too lazy to make eggs).
It's possible to ignore what you're eating when you read.
So I read.
Vaguely register that Farm Girl is fussing. Glance to stairs (foot of stairs are around corner- often she sits at the bottom fussing for someone who is at the top).
Remember that she has made it up on to the first step, got stuck, and fussed.
Wander over to stairs.
She's not at the bottom of the stairs.
She's 4 stairs up and I watch as she fusses and climbs to the fifth.
Time for the baby gate at the bottom?
Maybe.

We've been asking Farm Girl to sign various things (mostly Mommy and Daddy).
Sometimes she obliges.
Yesterday she seemed to do Mommy by smacking the side of her forehead and Daddy by pointing to the same place where she signed Mommy (see the actual signs here).
This morning Ren Man passed Farm Girl to me and she said: "da-da" and did her Daddy sign. We laughed and she fell back into Ren Man's arms.

In case you think we're completely bias here's something to kind of even things out.
Last night Ren Man and I were reviewing a marketing card that I was thinking about having printed up. I vaguely hear Ark Boy say: "Del is cat food!" Somewhere in my brain I think it's funny that he would call her that. As realization hits Ren Man is already rushing to the kitchen saying: "Thank you for telling us, Noah. Del! Yucky! We don't eat cat food!"
Blech!
And not dry cat food.... oh no.
Wet.
Thankful that we have a basement to put the litter box (unlike when Ark Boy was Farm Girl's age....).
All I'm saying is
it could be worse.

talking

Keep meaning to post a new entry.
Life is happening fast but not noteworthy.
I also feel like reading day-to-day stuff can be boring... but I devour other people's day-to-day blogs....
Ark Boy keeps amazing me d.a.i.l.y with all the new things he's saying.
Today he said: "everyone come into the living room.... Mommy come into the living room, Daddy come into the living room.... Family come into the living room"... we were getting to it, I promise he didn't have to wait that long.
He also shut himself in the bathroom and then said "Where is me?.... I'm in the bathroom!"
Okay- so not profound words of wisdom but still crazy cool because these are sentences he's never said before.
And on the Farm Girl front...
She makes her opinions known- words or no
and I'm so glad... for better or worse
case in point
today I noticed that she had snagged a wii remote and was starting to chew on it.
not good.
signed "no" and walked toward her
She screamed
I always tell Ark Boy it's her way of saying "no".
It was so cool to see her quickly process my intention and vocally let me know that she wasn't happy with me.

Does this satisfy the blog quota for today?
It's not a burden.
Truly.
I just keep putting it off.
And then I start a new entry and verbal diarrhea ensues.
Cutting myself off for the night.
Must go to bed.

Dear Noah 33 months

Dear Funny Noah,

You still make me laugh every day. Every day you talk more and more and I'm surprised with how much you can say. Lately you've been saying: "I'm mad!" when I really think you might be sad. For the last two days you've spent several chunks of time repeating everything I say. Scary.

You often say: "you remember..." when you want to tell a story. If I'm telling Daddy a story about you you will say: "you remember I say that?" We recently spent a couple nights at Nina's house and you insisted that you didn't want to go to our house when it was time to leave. That night, you were very very tired (this non-napping thing can be hard for a 2.5 year old) and said: "I just want to go to Maggie's house" in a very sad voice. Maggie is Nina and Poobah's cat. You often now say you don't want to go to our house when we're leaving wherever we've been. I think cabin fever is making us all a little stir crazy so going home is no longer an exciting proposition. Soon, soon it will be spring and we will try to get out as often as possible. The next day above 40degrees we have a date with the zoo.

You are very inquisitive about what people are doing, where they are going, what they are saying. I hear you, right now asking Daddy: "where you going now?" When someone talks to you who you don't want to talk to you close your eyes and stand very still until they give up and walk away. Just an FYI- I'm not sure how much longer that trick will work.

Loving you like crazy,
Mommy
ps today you said: "what are you doing... what are you doing, Sarah?" hard not to laugh.

feet and faces

My sister has confessed that she really just likes the posts with pictures. Does that mean NO WORDS, Ash? It's really really hard not to say anything.... I'll probably have to blog later today to make up for this non-word blog....