Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Smiles?
K's first smile was over a week ago. Since then I've been trying to catch it on film. So far it hasn't worked.
Here she lets me know that she'd really rather have her pacifire back.
Sometimes she chats with me.
Or makes funny faces at me.
This is a VERY common expression. More common than her smiles. S now calls her his "little worrier." Can you see why? She worries about everything, but mostly how the state of the economy is going to affect her milk supply. (I assure her it won't, but this doesn't stop her from thinking about it.)
Worrying again.
And this sad fuzzy picture is the closest we've gotten to catching her smile. Sorry, folks. I'll keep trying.
Here she lets me know that she'd really rather have her pacifire back.
Sometimes she chats with me.
Or makes funny faces at me.
This is a VERY common expression. More common than her smiles. S now calls her his "little worrier." Can you see why? She worries about everything, but mostly how the state of the economy is going to affect her milk supply. (I assure her it won't, but this doesn't stop her from thinking about it.)
Worrying again.
And this sad fuzzy picture is the closest we've gotten to catching her smile. Sorry, folks. I'll keep trying.Monday, October 20, 2008
p.s. Happy Lunaversary!
By the way, K is now one month old! (Or will be at 8:53 pm)
CONGRATS, little girl!
CONGRATS, little girl!
No negotiation
(It's cold enough for E to be in a turtleneck, but she's decided to act like it's summer. She insisted on this outfit. She especially liked the glasses.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
E's going through a rough time. She's re-learning boundaries.
Today that meant half an hour of re-learning that nap time was not negotiable. During the half-hour cryfest, (after I'd tried to calm her down, lay with her, etc. and finally determined that she just needed to ride it out) I kept repeating to myself "You do not negotiate with terror(ist)s. Especially not 20 month old ones that REALLY DO need to take their nap." So, I sat in the living room, listened and waited, busying myself by reading a book about child psychology (the first page I read said that nap times should not be negotiable, thus helping me feel a bit better about my crying babe.)
Like they'd planned it, exactly 45 seconds after E settled down, K woke from her little nap in the swing and let out a scream for me. I'm getting used to this now, though, (it's a frequent occurance) so I smiled, stood up, and went to see what was the matter. I picked her up, she calmed immediately.
I sat down, sighed, and looked deep into those dark eyes and she stared back at me with a newfound alertness. Then I was rewarded. She gave me her first smile.
AHhhh... Bliss.
Today that meant half an hour of re-learning that nap time was not negotiable. During the half-hour cryfest, (after I'd tried to calm her down, lay with her, etc. and finally determined that she just needed to ride it out) I kept repeating to myself "You do not negotiate with terror(ist)s. Especially not 20 month old ones that REALLY DO need to take their nap." So, I sat in the living room, listened and waited, busying myself by reading a book about child psychology (the first page I read said that nap times should not be negotiable, thus helping me feel a bit better about my crying babe.)
Like they'd planned it, exactly 45 seconds after E settled down, K woke from her little nap in the swing and let out a scream for me. I'm getting used to this now, though, (it's a frequent occurance) so I smiled, stood up, and went to see what was the matter. I picked her up, she calmed immediately.
I sat down, sighed, and looked deep into those dark eyes and she stared back at me with a newfound alertness. Then I was rewarded. She gave me her first smile.
AHhhh... Bliss.
Friday, October 17, 2008
A miracle
Something miraculous happened today.
I found myself awake, happy, for most of the day! It was like a huge fog had lifted. I didn't feel like I was walking around in an incoherant waking dream.
I think it may have something to do with K's record FIVE HOURS STRAIGHT of sleep last night (or maybe even 5 hours and 15 minutes, depending on how you count it.)
Given how exhausted I was, I probably fell asleep 60 seconds after K, so I think I might have gotten five hours of sleep, too.
AHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhh
I guess I'm still recovering, though, because my walk through the gardens with my "one (NC) friend" yesterday backfired on me, and last night I went back on heavy-duty pain killers. (Sigh)
That said, I got some beautiful pictures from the outing! If E (or K) doesn't wake up in the next 5 minutes, I'll post them here.
Pretty flower from the garden
K slept through the whole outting.
PUMPKINS with Mrs. M
I will PROTECT YOU little girl!
I will block all evil-doers from you.
I found myself awake, happy, for most of the day! It was like a huge fog had lifted. I didn't feel like I was walking around in an incoherant waking dream.
I think it may have something to do with K's record FIVE HOURS STRAIGHT of sleep last night (or maybe even 5 hours and 15 minutes, depending on how you count it.)
Given how exhausted I was, I probably fell asleep 60 seconds after K, so I think I might have gotten five hours of sleep, too.
AHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhh
I guess I'm still recovering, though, because my walk through the gardens with my "one (NC) friend" yesterday backfired on me, and last night I went back on heavy-duty pain killers. (Sigh)
That said, I got some beautiful pictures from the outing! If E (or K) doesn't wake up in the next 5 minutes, I'll post them here.
Pretty flower from the garden
K slept through the whole outting.
PUMPKINS with Mrs. M
I will PROTECT YOU little girl!
I will block all evil-doers from you.Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Wahoo!
A week and a half ago my mom gave me her old pants. I was excited to be in "real jeans" again. She had worked hard to lose enough weight to lose the pants. The jeans fit perfectly. Now, after only 10 days of eating whatever I want (including lots of pies and cookies) I am happy to say mom's pants are now too big for ME! WOOT! Keep it comin'!
In other news, God's good. I keep coming nearly to the end of my rope, only to find he's extended it.
Example: Yesterday, homesickness hit. I was in Bible study with a bunch of strangers REALLY missing my home church. It's just too hard to make friends, I had no energy, ick. On the way out the door I got intercepted by two older women who wanted to "ooh" and "ahh" over my newborn. Instead of the normal awkward "I don't know you, let's meet" conversation, however, I got a refreshing conversation. During that conversation I discovered that the woman I was talking to had JUST (last week) visited my "home church" in NC. "D.D. gave the sermon" she told me, "and I visited with S, do you know S?" "Yes! He asked me to help volunteer with the ESL program when I lived down there" "Oh, you have a teaching license in ESL? Could I get your insight on something?..." and the conversation continued. "So, why did you decide to come to E. Church?" "Well, a professor I knew at [my undergraduate institution] gave it to me in a list of churches when I asked for her advice about church shopping. I guess she went here when she was an undergraduate at [a local college where S works]. Her name's V.L." [Side note: I think V.L. went to this church before I was born, if I'm doing the math right.] "Oh! V.L like N. and V.L.!? I know of them!"
Then the other woman piped up, "So, are you from MN then?" "yes." "So am I!!"
(sigh of contentment) Although I'm far from my homes, apparently I'm not so far away after all.
Another (shorter) story: Since my mother/mother in law have left, I've discovered how difficult it is to sleep/clean/eat/etc. with a newborn AND toddler. Today, feeling a bit overwhelmed, I got two invites from people I barely know volunteering to bring me soup so that I wouldn't have to cook.
And I got a sermonette today that really spoke to me. Essentially, reminding me that it's in "trials" that we grow. I have looked at my life of late as a little bit of a trial (albeit a good one) so the reminder that I could rejoice in this time was wonderful, and refreshing. So good.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Her favorite words.
E's favorite thing to say is "I know." She shortens it most of the time to a simple (and usually high-pitched) "know!!!"
Unfortunately for us, her second favorite word is "no."
And she prefers saying "know" rather than "yes."
If we're lucky, she'll give us a "na-hu" which is her way of saying "uh-hu."... unfortunately she often shortens this to a simple "na."
"no." "know" and "na." ... needless to say her poor parents are very confused and can't wait until she learns more words.
Saturday, October 04, 2008
She has a nickname!
We decided that, although many nicknames can be derived from K's name, we would not choose a nickname for her, but instead leave that choice to her or her peer friends. This is, at least in part, because I love K's full name as is.
That said, as K's only "peer" friend, E has quickly come up with a nickname for her baby sister. K is known (to E at least) as "Mimi." It's not one that I would have come up with, but it fits, and (most importantly) E can prounounce it. So, if you (like most of the English-speaking population) keep forgetting how to pronounce her name (it's KEE-me-ah), then feel free to call her "Mimi."
Here's her birth announcment, made by my sister-in-law. It's beautiful! Thanks, sis-in-law!
