Brooklyn At Heart

Fin

2011-06-23T14:01:00.003-04:00

But it's not really. In a way we are just getting started.
Miss Koala is now 13 months and a few days and has been walking in that cute I can walk 4-5 steps to mama or daddy and be really proud about it kind of way. She crawls like a champ, but prefers walking SO much more. And Miss Bean is, as I write this, sleeping for the second night in her big girl bed, OFF the floor. And she's potty trained!! Like 87%! She made it all the way down to NYC (with stops to pee, of course) without any accidents. The way home wasn't as good, but since we've been back she's been perfect. She even gets up in the night to potty. We took her changing table out of her room today and with her big girl bed in there instead of the crib, I feel like my baby has grown up really fast.

Speaking of becoming a grown up, in about five weeks or so, it's looking like N and I will become first time homeowners! All big, wonderful, exciting stuff, but I don't feel the urge to write about our daily lives quite so much anymore. In the first place, as the girls become older, I don't want to violate their privacy and also, I don't miss Brooklyn/NYC quite as much as I did when I first stated this blog a little more than three years ago. I'm happy to be here, at this point. I wouldn't want to be back in Brooklyn with two little girls. But there are things I do want to do, like maybe think about getting a part-time job at some point and really trying to make a go of it with my fiction writing. Blogging has been great---it's been a wonderful record of our lives in New Hampshire and, despite me writing about my kids so darn much, something that provided me with an outlet from being a mom.

I'm going to take the summer off and then in September, I might start a new blog. One that will be a little less mommy, a little more worldly. Just like Miss Koala is taking her first steps into the big wide world, I think it's time that I start thinking about my place in it too.

Thanks for reading y'all!
Happy Summer.

Happy 1st Birthday, Baby Girl!

2011-05-19T21:54:00.006-04:00

Woohooo! You turned one today, Miss Koala. A year ago, you were a little more than two hours old and I have no idea what I was doing. I don't think we'd gone to bed yet...we were probably calling people with our excellent news.

This is how we celebrated your big day. You got up around 5:30, got bday hugs and kisses, went downstairs with your pops to have some milk and Cheerios. When your big sis got up around 30 mins later, she pointed out the Happy Birthday banner, noticed the presents, and the excellent balloon on your high chair. Actually, I think you noticed the balloon on your own. The Bean got Belle and Snow White figures for being such a good big sis for a whole year. You got a new baby doll (because we don't have enough already) and band in a box so you can form a band now that you're the big 0-1!

After that it was bagels with cream cheese for breakfast!

I am so happy your sis had school this morning. She was a bit of a nutter. When she left, you went down for a good long nap. When you got up, we took you to look at this house we think maybe we should buy. Then we got your sister and had a picnic with some friends at the playground.

The sun finally shone for the first time in a week!

You ate a whole cupcake although I think a lot of the icing ended up on your jeans.

You wore your super cute 1 shirt.

Everyone got tired so we came home and had overlapping naps!

You were cranky when you woke so we gave you milk in a bottle, which is your most favorite thing ever.

When your sister got up we played outside. You went off a tear pushing the little red wagon all over the yard. Dinner was early and pretty good. You were able to eat spinach, which made me happy because I think maybe you don't get enough leafy greens. You loved eating tomatoes, too. You also had chicken and yam. And some more fruit salad (strawberries!) because you only turn one once.

After dinner you played a bit, had a bath, got goofy on your bottle and went to bed. All in all a pretty good day.

You are very mobile now. I find you sitting or standing or lying on your belly in the big kid crib. You talk a lot! You smile a lot! You are still pulling on your ears a lot even though last week Dr. Doug said your ears looked good. I can't believe you got another cold , but I'm hoping it's not that bad. We'll see how you're doing at your well-baby on Monday.

I think you're doing fantastic! You are the most amazing, sweetest, most edible, happy, wonderful baby in all the land.

I feel so lucky to have had you. I can't wait for next year's adventures! Happy Birthday, my little love!
Love,
Mama

My Life Just Got Harder (And Easier)

2011-05-11T20:55:00.000-04:00

So, at like the exact same time The Bean decided she was all 100% confident getting out of her crib and opening her door and coming down the hall into our room or walking downstairs (if the gate wasn't locked) AND Miss Koala decided to enter the horrible period of transitioning from 2 naps to 1 or maybe 2, but it's going to be a fight to get that 2nd one mama, you'll have to drive me to Claremont and back or stroller me all over town and if you do get nap number 2 it's going to be short and I'm going to be wanting a brawl when I wake up and see just what you've done.

2011 might be the summer of car/stroller naps.

Because The Bean no longer has to stay in bed, she no longer stays in bed. The girl hasn't had a decent nap since Sunday and man she was just deliriously tired tonight. The only people who should have dark bags under their eyes like that are frat boys snorting Ritalin all night to write their term papers. I took the crib mattress out of the crib this afternoon and was all like "here's your big girl bed" but she still wouldn't nap. It probably didn't help that her sister was up and hanging out in my room. It's hard to explain to an almost 3 year old, that the baby already took one nap and since she's transitioning she might be up till 4. They did have a good 15 mins of sisterly love cracking each other up. Every time, MB would get out of her bed, she'd come running into my room, saying "what's going on guys?" and her sister would just bust a gut.

Anyway. The Bean is sleeping on the mattress sans crib now. It took some stories from papa and a few lullabies from mama, but she was out. She already woke herself up once by rolling off the mattress and onto the pad we have next to her. Who knows where she'll end up, but please could whoever is up there let the girl sleep in tomorrow. She's been up at 5ish for weeks now and it's making everyone so tired. How sad is it that 6:30 would feel late?

Even though the girls haven't been really overlapping naps for a while, occasionally I might get 20-30 mins and man, was that good. Or just having one of them is so much easier. But having both of them? From like 7:30 (when N left for work) till 5:00 (when he came home early)? It's killing me. Just thinking about makes me need a drink. I can't believe I didn't have a cocktail this evening. I'm trying to only drink on weekends and holidays...not that I drank too much, but because I'd really like to lose the last ten pounds of baby weight left over from baby #1 and also because drinking and women and breast cancer blah blah. And it makes it more special, you know.

Anyway.

So this is The Bean's first night out of a crib and N and I feel kind of sad. Kind of like we want to swaddle her in her old miracle wrap and put her back in the bassinet with a binky. But not really.

Miss K loves her morning nap still. Would probably take a nap at 8 if I let her, but we really need to push it back back back. I bet once that finally happens, her sister will probably have dropped her nap entirely. I think we might have to move the occasional milk and Sesame on the couch at 4:30 to the early afternoon. I'd really her to stay in her room quietly reading Proust from her quiet time, but the reality might involve a little more Elmo time. I don't know why I feel bad about it. She watches far less TV that all the other kids we know. She rarely watches more than 45 mins at a time. I don't know. I know everything will settle eventually....

But in wonderful, fantastic, my life got so much easier news, tomorrow is N's last day at school!! Woohooo!! 3 months of daddy-day care!

On Little Girls and The Pain of Shopping at Xmart*

2011-05-06T19:37:00.006-04:00

Tomorrow I'm taking Miss Bean (and her sister because N is working) to a doll and tea party at our local rec center. I'm a little nervous because Miss Bean is on the young end and it more or less starts at her nap time and it might be a huge American Girl fest. The Bean is not yet hip to AG, but apparently I want to keep her away from it as long as possible. I guess they're expensive, but honestly they seem a little better than Barbie and Bean is definitely hip to that.

Today I was shopping and I felt like stores like Xmart and the grocery stores would soon become battle grounds with my kids. Everything is princess pink crap this and Dora crap that and SUGAR SUGAR SUGAR. I can imagine having to say no a million times as we walk down the aisles and really who can blame the kids? The crap is pretty and pink and sweet. And I have to battle myself too. Like, Bean loves princesses and I wanted to get her some new summer pj's and they had a set of horrible Disney princess ones and I bought them because I knew how much she would like them. For a while I considered buying her the "boy" ones, which were a much cooler orange with a tractor, but in end I went for the princesses because it was more bang for the buck and I thought it was a cheap way to make her happy.

But am I feeding into this? Should I have bought the tractor set in defense against the princess thing?

Shopping today made me feel worried about having girls and the issues ahead of them. I feel like it's them against these ginormous corporations that want them to buy all the princess stuff and then buy all the sweet stuff and then worry about being too fat and not princessy enough and then drink nothing but Diet Coke and fat-free pretzels when they're 19.

Maybe I'm projecting.

But shit. I'm a 35 year old woman and I still feel like I have to deal with body issues and materialism. And now I have to deal with what stuff I should and shouldn't buy for my girls too.

I don't know. There's no real ending for this post. Cuz it aint no fairy tale.
*Not Walmart.

Blogging!?

2011-04-26T19:25:00.002-04:00

I'm going to try to blog a little more this month and then, when Miss K turns the big 01, I'm going to shut this baby down.

Why?

You know, this blog used to be about missing Brooklyn and having to move to NH and how weird it is up here and how terrible the winters are and also it was about books and general updates. And now, or for the past 2 years, I feel like it's only about my kids and that's great and all but really, isn't it also a little bit boring?

I'm finding it boring and they're my kids so I'm actually interested in what time Miss K got up from her nap and how many poops were pooped on Tuesday. But you shouldn't be.

I'm thinking about starting a new and improved, less kid-friendly blog. Maybe after the summer. Maybe before. Maybe not at all. Anyway, keep reading for now. I will write through mid-May at least.

And, fyi, Miss K was up a few minutes after 10:00 AM today. Not such a good morning nap.

11 Months!!

2011-04-19T09:55:00.003-04:00

Today, Miss Koala is an amazing 11 months, which means in one short month she'll be eating some 1st birthday cake! Wow. Can't believe my baby is going to be one. I think it took 3 years for Miss Bean to turn 1, but about 5 months for Baby Meow-Meow.
Let's see what you've been up to:

Sick: You've basically been sick the entire month. Two ear infections, high fevers, a terrible cough, and lots of horrible boogers, which lead to the even more horrible face wiping. You haven't been the happiest of babies, but the last few days have shown dramatic improvement.

Sleeping: Knock on wood, your sleeping seems to have improved. You slept through the night last night. You had one really horrible night and a lots of needing-the-paci back nights this month. But hopefully your improving health will help you sleep better. Your napping has gotten a little wacky. You've been taking one long morning nap from about 9-10:30 or so. But then you don't get tired again till around 3 and that nap has been on the short side. I think you're probably starting the long and annoying process of dropping a nap. We're going to have to start pushing the morning one later and later, but you are truly exhausted by 9 so I'm not looking forward to it.

Talking: You are very talkative. You can say "hi" and "bye" and of course "da-da" and "mama." You do a lot of squawk-talking and maybe wonderful happy bird noises when you're happy.

Eating: You can pretty much each everything these days, but you've been shaking your head "no" a lot. I think you like doing it rather than really meaning it because sometimes you'll shake no and then put a handful of food in your mouth. You're definitely drinking less formula these days. I think it's partly to do with being sick, but also it's time to start thinking about getting you off the bottle. In a month, we'll start you on whole milk. I'm interested to see if you like it or not. You don't like water, that's for sure. I hope in the summer we can get you to start drinking more of it. You loved corn bread and the itsy bits of cupcake crumbs I snuck you. I'm starting to lose track of all the new foods you've tried.

Moving: You can move, but it's not what I would call directed crawling. You do come over when you want to be picked up, but you still can't move your leg out of the way, which makes you incredibly frustrated. You are a terrific stander, but unable to pull yourself up. I think I'm going to make you try more instead of placing you feet down in front of the coffee table/upside down laundry basket. For the first time, this month, you started sleeping not on your back sometimes. I think you like being on your side. I wonder if you'll ever be a belly down, butt up sleeper like your sister was.

Teeth: You have two bottom teeth now. Not sure if you had them last month.

Likes: You are getting much more vocal about your likes and dislikes. You LOVE birds, being outside, and being silly with mommy when you should be going to bed. You dislike drinking water and having your face wiped. You are fascinated/unsure with/by dogs. You still love measuring spoons, banging things together, and your Mickey Mouse. You love screaming contests with your big sister and being danced around the room. I'm pretty sure, baby girl, that you're going to love the cake you'll get to eat next month.

Wow!

I can't wait to celebrate you!
xo,
Mama

April is the new new February

2011-04-14T14:25:00.003-04:00

Sorry for the silence but it's been sick, sick, sick round these parts. We've had high fevers, stomach bugs, sore throats, croupy coughs, ear infections, goopy eyes, and more boogers than....you probably care to think about. I think we had 3 sick free days between the stomach virus that N and the girls brought back from Florida and the nasty colds that have been going back and forth between us all. Oh, and somehow there was a second stomach bug that N had all weekend and I had part of Tuesday. Miss Koala has probably had the worst of it. She's on her second ear infection and is still pretty sick.

In unrelated news:

I read Tina Fey's Bossypants! Fun book, but lite. And left me wanting to know more. I watched No Impact Man, which I thought would annoy me, but actually I found it interesting and also made me feel super guilty about all of our garbage. One day we will compost! And our children will be diaper free! Speaking of diaper free, Miss Beanie Bean is right now wearing her very own princess underpants! We're just testing them out at home this evening, but hopefully potty training will happen sooner.

What else?

OMG the snow is gone from our lawn and our grass has mostly gone from depressing brown to happy green! We've been going about in the stroller! It's still pretty cold most of the time though.

But this has come to our green! Come visit. Mmmm.....

There Are People Who Don't Ever Deal With Snow

2011-03-31T21:05:00.003-04:00

Apparently, I am not one of them.

10 Months!

2011-03-19T21:11:00.003-04:00

Go Baby Go! You are an 10 amazing months today. I can't believe we're already starting to think about your 1st birthday...well, actually I can since your big sister is birthday obsessed (even for yours) and I'm rather forward thinking. But what a month, baby girl. You want to move so badly. Well, you are moving, just not in the right direction. You can't seem to get the hang of crawling forward. Most of the time your knee is in the way; and when you do get to your belly, you mostly scooch backwards. You are frustrated no end! But you're moving around and getting into things in a way you haven't done yet. You were crying earlier this evening and when I went to give you your binky, you were laying diagonally in your crib. Your dad moved your crib to the lowest setting last week because you have been flipping over more too.

You were a great traveler to Florida. You enjoyed being outside, playing in (and trying to eat) sand for the first time, and swimming in outside pools. You don't like sunblock at all! Your eyes got very red each time we put it on. You also figured out how to take off your hat on our trip. And down there you made it clear you're so done with baby food even though we sometimes have to give it to you if only to use it up. You have your first tooth and can eat most everything as long as it's small enough. You had your first fish stick today for lunch and seemed to like it. And you got really mad that everyone else was eating pizza for lunch. You love feeding yourself---you don't want to be fed unless you're super hungry or it's something super delicious like applesauce. Your hand-eye coordination is so much better too. You probably feed yourself 7 out of 10 Cheerios these days.

One of your favorite things to do these days is to give your paci to me or your dad. You think it's so funny when we have it in one of our mouths. You also laugh when I put a silly hat on. I love seeing your sense of humor develop.

You and your sister and dad all got a nasty stomach bugs when we got back from our trip. It was so sad having you so sick. But the next day, after being vomit-free for 12+ hours, you were hungry and SO mad when I tried to give you 50% formula (doctor's orders) or took away the pedialyte after a few ounces. Hopefully you won't get a bug like that for a long time.

You're starting to "talk." You like to say "da-da-da-da-da." When you say that The Bean says, "he's at work" or "I'm not da-da" or "that's mama, not da-da." You do say "ma-ma" but it tends to be when you're upset. You can also say "uh-oh" and "hi." You're a really good clapper now, too and starting to get the hang of waving. You seem very responsive to music and love shaking rattley things. You also love birds! You have this little noise you make when you see them.

For the most part, you are sleeping better. You've slept through the night a few times and before we left for Florida, you were taking one very long nap during the day. Since we've gotten back, your naps have gotten a little shorter and worse, you've taken to waking up at 4AM. It's much too early! We've been giving you a bottle at 5 AM, but I think we should try to make it even later.

You are such a big, strong girl! I don't put you in anything but 12 months and you can even wear some 18 month clothes. I ordered you a sweet little jumper in 18-24 months and hope that it will be warm enough for you to wear it on your bday. You are probably getting close to 24 pounds, honeybunch, and killing my back, but I wouldn't want you any other way.

xo,
mama

Puke: Not Just Another 4 Letter Word

2011-03-15T21:14:00.005-04:00

Oh, man. March is the new February. On the good side of the month, our travels were a success---we sunned, swam, those 21 + drank copious amounts of pina coladas, those closer to 3 drank loads of pineapple juice and chocolate milk; there was much eating, a massage, a golf lesson, and even some childcare. Oh, and we rode in a Hummer Stretch Limo cuz that's how we roll.

The girls were troopers, great on both flights. And the sleeping wasn't as bad as I thought it might be considering we were all sharing a room.

The negative was that my brand new Verizon iPhone was lost/stolen with lots of our vacation pics on it:( And Miss Bean fell out of the bed twice! The good part was that she wasn't hurt either time .

On the bad side of the month, around 3AM on Sunday, our first night back in NH, I go into Miss Bean's room after hearing her yell for water a few times and discovered that she had puked great buckets all over her crib, wall, floor, and the 800 "lovies" she sleeps with each night.

I'm not all that squeamish about the puke thing, but this was so super gross. Her sheets had to be washed twice to get the stink out! And I kept finding puke hiding in the crevices of her crib.

She was low-energy on Sunday, but not too bad. All I wanted to do yesterday was go to the gym, you can only drink so many pinas without feeling a bit on the fat side, but N came home ashen and pukey and went straight to bed at 4:00 and then Miss Koala yaked up her entire dinner all over the high chair. I cleaned her up only to have her yak again and again..all over me, the living room rug, her rug and many articles of her clothing. I felt so bad for her...The Bean rarely pukes and never did as a baby. In fact, I think The Bean solely pukes in her crib, which while messy and gross is much more contained. Hmmm.....

Needless to say, I did not make it to the gym. Monday was puke fest 2011.

24 hours later, things are much better. Miss Koala was on liquids for most of the day, but was hungry for her dinner of chicken soup and toast which she kept down. N pushed through and gave his artist talk this afternoon and has been eating various crackery things this evening.

I finally made it to the gym too.
I better not get sick! March has already caused enough damage!

March!

2011-03-04T19:16:00.003-05:00

Well, we made it through February. Although last year, March was the new Feb what with the broken back, the bronchitis, the bruised rib....but hopefully we'll get through this one better. N is now on spring break, The Bean has a new pair of striped shorts and a great stripy sweatshirt ( a bunch of other clothes) thanks to her generous grandparents, and Miss Koala is so ready to crawl...if only she could get that leg out of the way. Yikes.

We'll be heading down to Florida on Monday morning to relish in not wearing coats, mittens, or snow boots! Posting will be light to nil--perhaps a pic or two, so till then....goodbye NH and your relentless winter!

February In Verse: 3

2011-02-25T09:10:00.001-05:00

Do you feel my pain?
It is snowing yet again.

Nine Months In! Nine Months Out!

2011-02-19T13:42:00.003-05:00

My delicious Miss Koala!
You are a fabulous nine months today! You are rocking it, girl. It seems like so much has happened this month, this week even.

Moving: You still don't really like tummy time, but you have been scooching backwards. What you love is standing. You just want to stand stand stand and do a little walking. You can support yourself with the couch or table, but we still need to be really close to you. You've gotten to the point where you go rigid when we try to get you to sit down. If you weren't so big, you'd probably have an easier time pulling yourself up, but as this point you're still dependent on us. You're still a happy girl most of the time, but you are definitely more frustrated with your lack of movement than you were last month.

Eating: Today your dad gave you fruit and oatmeal and mini waffles for breakfast. For lunch you had a combo of quinoa, which gave you some funky gas, with pureed squash and zucchini. Since we were at a bday party, I gave you a little bit of cheese and a Triscuit, which you seemed to enjoy. For dinner your dad gave you a jar of spinach and potato and some mushy fruit thing. You love eating/sucking/gnawing on rice crackers these days. And you are crazy for bread and most especially pizza crust. I wish you'd get some teeth so I wouldn't have to keep pulling mushy chunks of bread from the roof of your mouth and watching you like a hawk.

Object Permanence: You are in the prime peek-a-boo stage. You also know that things aren't really gone when they're removed from your grip. This is why you cried when I took that pizza crust away to get you in the stroller. It's really interesting to watch you look for things that have been removed.

Toys: When you will sit down, you love going through boxes of different toys. You have strong opinions (it seems) about what makes a good toy. You like taking two different objects and banging them together. You also like knocking things down.

The Big Wide World: You're starting, like your sister and I, to get a little stir crazy. I try to do everything in my power to get you out to do something at least once a day. You enjoy looking out the window, but you seem to really love being outside...maybe because it seems so novel at this point in mid-February. You also really like music. You get into singing and dancing and clapping. You have the most wonderful smile.

Your Big Sister: There's been a shift this past month. Now I feel like your thing the most wonderful person in the world is, when you're not tired or cranky, your big sister. It's gotten to the point where I want Miss Bean to wake up from her long nap so you'll be entertained by her. I don't think there's been any violence against babies this month either. And Miss Bean now says that she loves you!

Sleep: Last night you slept till 3:30! That's 9.5 hours, girlie. I'm still nursing you once in the night, but it's just for comfort because you have bottles o' formula the rest of the day. I'm sure the doctor will say to cut it out when we go to your well-baby on Thursday, so we'll just wait till he does. I do hate hearing you cry during the sleep training though. No pressure, but The Bean did sleep entirely through the night on her 9 month day. Mama wouldn't mind a full night of sleep, baby girl.

Wow! So many big changes for my big beautiful girl! In a few weeks, we'll be going on a family vacation to Florida. I'm very excited that we'll be able to take you outside every day! I can't imagine what kinds of things you'll be up to next month, but I can't wait! Here's to a good month!

xo,
mama

February In Verse: 2

2011-02-18T09:31:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe
that the man-made mountains of snow
will ever melt

I believe it will take 80 days of 80 degree weather and then
there will be still enormous puddles in
all the parking lots

February in Verse: 1

2011-02-16T18:27:00.003-05:00

oh,
how I long to
rush you kids outside
in only your stroller
no coats hats gloves socks boots scarves snowsuits booties snowpants mittens earmuffs
oh no,
it will just be you and the clothes you have on
dashing into the dazzling hot hot summer sun

although perhaps maybe i'll stop long enough to put
flip-flops
on our
feet

Friday February Books!

2011-02-04T08:00:00.004-05:00

Yeah, I still do read. Probably as much as you do and on less sleep too! Not to make you feel bad about yourself or anything.

Now, thanks the awesomeness of Xmas, I can read on my Kindle. Didn't think I would, but I kind of love it. Reading Anna Karenina on it now and for the foreseeable future. That's a long book and I'm in the farming/Levin part, which is slightly as tedious as they say, but I am enjoying the romance. I also read Room and I Remember Nothing on the Kindle. The Ephron wasn't worth it. I liked I Feel Bad About My Neck, but this one felt like I Still Feel Bad About My Neck Except I Already Made A Killing Off This Idea Before So Maybe If I Call It Something Else But Keep It Very Similar No One Will Catch On. IRN made me question if I would actually like Nora if we were to say, meet and have coffee. Room is a total head trip. A very fast read, certain to give you 1-2 nights of weird dreams, but something you really can't stop reading. Also, it gave me A LOT of perspective on being housebound with kids. If you think your place is small, imagine an 11X11 foot shed.

In book form, I just finished Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. I liked it, in a quiet, comforting way. It took me longer to read than it should have. I think it would be an excellent book for a trans-Atlantic flight, which isn't meant as a dis in any way because I did like it.

And I've finally read all of the Diary of A Wimpy Kids in the past two or so months, which is good because it's been kind of embarrassing checking them out of the library when it's obvious that The Bean is just not reading yet. They are funny. And you can read one in about an hour, which is pretty much my standard these days.

It's the end of January and I haven't mentioned all the freaking snow!?

2011-01-25T20:42:00.003-05:00

I don't know what's up with that.
Let me describe the inconvenience that is snow. I have to climb a mountain of it just to strap Miss Bean into her car seat from my driveway. Then we go to the library and all the layers have to come off all of us girls: 1 snowsuit, 2 coats, 3 hats, 6 gloves, 1 scarf, 2 booties, and please Bean could you keep the boots and socks on? No, of course not. Then of course all those layers have to go back on and when Miss Koala is snow suited in her new appropriate warmth level snowsuit, she's too puffy to sit so splat. Then I had to wrangle the toddler back into ALL of her clothes. Then because I was parked on a snowbank, I had to leave her on the sidewalk, sit the Eskimo baby in her car street, survive the whizzing traffic, get Miss Bean back, put her in the minivan from the whizzing car side, follow her inside the van and wrangle her into her car seat that way.

A big old pain the butt!

This afternoon The Bean wore boots with no socks! We're getting desperate.

And you know what else.

It's fucking cold.

-25, baby.

Sorry for the cursing moms, but -25?!

8 Months, Miss Koala!

2011-01-19T18:14:00.004-05:00

Today Miss Koala you are 8 months! And so super, edible cute. Let's see, we've been quasi sleep training you the past few nights because we don't think you need to eat at 9:30. Two nights ago was terrible with 40+ minutes of crying, but last night it was only 10 minutes and then you slept till 1:30! Then you nursed, then when you woke at 4:30 you consumed a staggering 10oz of formula and thankfully went back to sleep till just before 7. The other mornings you woke up laughing at 5 and didn't want to go back to sleep. Ugh.

After your 9AM nap, we booked it over to Music Together, which you're very into. It was a crazy class today and you conked out on the way home in your new snowsuit, which Granny pressured me into buying since she thought your other one wasn't warm enough. But it was a whopping 32 degrees today! We all ate lunch when we got home. You had pieces of yam and avocado and these airy things your sister and I call puffers. You practiced putting food into your mouth by yourself and occasionally you got it in!

I'm very excited for the time when you and your sister can eat the same foods. At the same time. I had to make three different lunches today.

After lunch you did some exercising in your Exersaucer and after that we all went upstairs. You're still the queen of the 40 minute nap, but once a week or so you'll take a much needed longer one. Sometimes your much needed and my much needed don't mesh, but what can you do?

After your nap, we cuddled and played on the bed since your sis was still confined to her crib for the mandatory 60 min siesta. You got obsessed with my cell phone. I made you laugh by kissing your belly. You played with some toys. The Bean was in a terrible mood when she woke up for her too-late, too-short nap, but other than a freak out the other day violence against babies is way down and she told you she loved you for the first time last week! At 3:30, you and your sister shared some banana. Around 4:00 you got into Nutty Baby Mode. You made crazy noises and I wasn't sure what you really wanted. When I finally fed you dinner, you kept head banging in the high chair. For dinner you had egg yolk and some alphabet pasta with mushy carrots. I think you liked it, but the nutty baby mode made it hard to tell.

I've been wanting to keep you up till 6:30, but you just hit a wall around 5. We had a very unconventional bedtime---your sister was in the room yaking non-stop, you had a new super fast nipple on your bottle of semi-cold formula, we looked at the stars from the ladyug constellation thing, and then I put you in your crib. Normally, your bedtime is a much cozier, quieter affair with either me or your dad, but since he was working it just didn't happen that way. You've been more or less sound asleep since 5:45.

You are such a great baby. You love getting out, having new people over, and playing with new toys/dangerous electrical appliances. It's making the winter extra hard having to keep you in so much. You're still not moving, hate tummy time, don't have any teeth, and very little hair, but you are so easy going, so happy, and smiley, and fun that we're gonna keep you around!

I love you so much! Only 4 months till we feed you cupcakes! With sprinkles!
xo,
Mama

Actually, Today is My Birthday

2010-12-30T20:01:00.004-05:00

Yeah. I'm 35 with 2 kids and a minivan. All we need is a morgage and a dog.

Actually it was a pretty great bday. N and I went out for a fancy adult dinner last night and this morning when I got up (at 7!) my girlies were wearing Dora party hats and sitting in a big stroller in the kitchen.

It took me a second to register that the stroller was a brand new BOB stroller---the creme de la creme of strollers. It's got shocks y'all. N was super awesome and bought it for me even though we have about 7099 strollers already. Apparently he and The Bean chased down the UPS man yesterday afternoon and he somehow managed to fit it in his tiny car.

I had an excellent massage at 8 this morning and then we took the girls to the Bouncy House iand then for a minorly disastorous pizza lunch in Hanover. No one napped this afternoon, which was a bummer, but N got a whole bunch of fire wood from a neighbor who's moving and made a fire and we took a walk with the new stroller and then came home with a super grouchy Bean who got super happy when we had a little party with a little cake. At the party were me, of course, N, The Bean, Miss Koala and several of The Bean's lovies: Pink, Fire Bear, Baby G----, and Baby Jesus.

Dora party hats were worn by all except by Baby Jesus and Baby G--- who come with their own hats.

Dinner was chili and salad and an early bed for a super tired Bean.

35 was a good year: an excellent new baby, three new strollers (one of which was just passed along to another family), a new mini van, goodbye cable, hello Apple TV, a super verbal super awesome toddler, a super N, a winning lottery ticket, and lots of fun. 36 is a lucky number for us Jew Jew Bees so let's just do it.

7 Months Miss K!

2010-12-19T22:10:00.003-05:00

Today you are 7 months baby girl! You celebrated this by sleeping in till 8AM, which meant mama slept till 8 too! Yay!! Not so yay is that you're still getting up to nurse 2 times a night. Tonight I will nurse you once (hopefully later rather than sooner) but then I'm going to send your dad in to give you a bottle of water. That is the message we are sending you.

You are eating up a storm. Tonight for dinner you had avocado and squash. For a snack you got pieces of banana since your dad and sister were eating Toddler Yogurt right in front of you. Actually it was baby yogurt, but I think we should wait to give you dairy till you're a little older.

Friends of ours gave us two huge things of formula because I've been thinking of giving you a bottle of it before bed. But I haven't brought myself to actually do it yet. I think I will in the new year. As much as I'm tired of getting up to nurse you in the night, I know that once I start giving you formula, my supply will probably tank and you'll prefer bottles and then before too long you'll be weaned. I stopped nursing The Bean at 8 months. I wonder how long you'll go.

I kind of want you to be weaned, but I also want you to stay my baby, baby.

Anyway, you're sitting super well. And you've really stated to need to play with toys. You like having a box of toys to choose from. You kind of finger through it pulling different toys out as you go.

Colonel Granny came to town this weekend and she gave you lots of tummy time and you rolled over on your own twice this afternoon. I didn't witness it because I was eating a sandwich in the kitchen.

You really want a sandwich, big girl. The other day you looked at granny so angrily when she was eating her lunch. You were all like how can you eat that without even offering me a bite? Then, you tried to take a bite of my sandwich!

We are in the love affair stage. You LOVE mama and smile and laugh and light up when I come into the room. You make me feel like Julia Roberts and I can't get enough of it. I'm happy to report that violence against babies is dramatically down. Granny says she can see that The Bean now loves you in a way she didn't before. That said, toddlers can not be trusted so she won't be babysitting you anytime soon.

You are still the queen of the 45 minute nap. Although when we have somewhere to go, you decide to power nap for 2 hours!

Next week will be your first Xmas, which will be fun. I hope all the traveling is okay with you. I think this month will be full of big developments. You may even get to try some Cheerios!

I love you to bits, baby!
xo, mama

The Hobos Are Coming! The Hobos Are Coming!

2010-11-30T21:08:00.001-05:00

Your kids, your future kids, they dress so cute, don't they, with their Hanna Anderson and their Petit Bateau and their Zutano Baby matching little pants and coats and socks and, look, they've got bows in their hair. But my kids? My kids are hobos. The big one, she's got yogurt in her hair and mud on her pants and she's missing a sock and her face is covered in some kind of nose goop, but don't even think of trying to wipe it...she will eat you alive if you get within an inch of her face. And the baby? Her pants are too small, but that's because they're pink and I wanted it clear that she's a girl because her top is blue with fire trucks and lions because we're into hand-me-downs, but with the peach fuzz hair it gets tiresome always having to say girl.

The big hobo's pants don't fit right either. They did this morning in the house, but now, out here, her diaper pops out of the top of and you're probably noticing that the baby hobo's onsie isn't snapped so it keeps riding up her belly and kind of defeats the purpose of layers. There is spit on her fleece and her pants and a small bit of mystery yellow on her ankle. The baby's booties are forever falling off and instead of gloves there are socks on her hands.

As soon as we go inside anywhere, the big kid wants her shoes AND SOCKS off. Doesn't matter if we're in the bank or the library, if it comes off, she wants it off now. Like NOW!

Our diaper bag is a small country in the midst of a terrible civil war: wipes stuffed into a supposedly disposable wipe container, smushed diapers, an outfit that was supposed to be a back up outfit that was actually used to wipe up vomit, a sock, another different sock, a toy nobody wants to play with, an old spoon with dried peas on it, pacifiers that are the wrong size, a piece of cloth, a third and yet entirely different sock.

We drive in crumbs. There are cheddar bunny crumbs and graham cracker crumbs and little bits of apple peel crumbs and crumbs from bread and pretzels and rice cakes and muffins and corn chips and scones. There are the plastic peels from string cheese and boxes of raisins and apple cores of apples eaten long ago.

But your kids. We have high hopes for your kids. But be forewarned. The hobos are coming and they're not going back.

6 Months and Rocking!

2010-11-19T19:30:00.005-05:00

Miss Koala is 6 months today! In fact, six months ago at this very minute I was pushing her out---sans ANY pain meds, y'all. Cuz that's how I roll. As I write this, Miss K, you are 11 minutes away from being born! This past half a year has FLOWN by, girl. In no time, you're going to be eating some bday cake!

Anyway, to celebrate your 6 monthness, mama had Indian food tonight. I haven't had any since September and since you're not nursing as much now I'm thinking we can deal if it makes you a tad fussy.

You had three solid meals today. You had combinations of pureed squash and peas and bananas and applesauce. I think you're enjoying it...sometimes you get a little squawky while eating and I'm not sure if it's because you want more and you're not getting it fast enough or some kind of other gastro issue is going on. You tend to eat best at the Montshire museum and I think you like your food warm rather than cold and man, have you made up for any non-pooping issues you had in the last five months!

I must change 800,000 diapers a day.

What else? It goes without saying that you're getting huge. Goodbye 3-6 months clothes, hello 6-9 and 6-12! I saw 2-4 little bits o teeth on the top of your mouth and it feels like you have about 20 more coming through. You're getting good at sitting. When you're interested in something, like the craziness of story time at the Norwich library, you can sit on your own for a minute or more. The other day I tried to lay you down on the bed and you attempted to push yourself up to sit. I remember last month or so when I stuck you in your sister's high chair and you were slipping and sliding all over the place. But this week you sat in it for quite a while no problem. There was a nice moment a few days ago when you were playing with some toys on the highchair tray and your sister was on the kitchen stool next to you playing with her toy cookies on the tray too.

Sweet.

(For the record violence against babies has decreased this month but you were bitten yesterday).

You're definitely more into toys. I can give you something and, if it's baby appropriate, you can hold it and examine it. You seem to like the little Grover your dad bought you.

Your dad brought down the Exersaucer aka Circle of Neglect this month and you're pretty into it in small doses. Today I had you hang out in it while I put your sis down for a nap and all of sudden you got really quiet. I went to check on you and you gave me this huge LOOK AT ME grin.

You're getting really fun, Miss K. I love the morning (especially when it's after 7AM) when you wake up all happy and edible! Mmmmmmm.....baby. I like hanging out on the bed making you laugh and kissing your amazing baby belly.

I feel like I'm sort of getting the hang of this two kid thing. Today we came back from Tot Lot and you were hungry and I was hungry and Miss Bean was hungry. I had to cook soup, feed you and me and Miss Bean and it all got done.

You sleep in your own bed (except for a few mornings here and there when we're too lazy to put you back in your crib) and you have the potential to sleep through the night. It's been better and some nights---like when you went till 4AM---great. But then there are nights when you're up three times and well, you're a baby. I think back upon the weeks when getting you to sleep was a nightmare and how we had to use the swing all the time and now we never even think about it. You eat dinner around 4:30, nurse around 5:30 and are usually in bed by 6. The swing has needed new batteries for weeks and we haven't bothered to put them in. You nap for 40 minutes although occasionally, like when I need/want to go out, you'll do a good long one. I'd like to get you on a better nap schedule but I'm not sure how possible it is.

Have I mentioned how cute you are?

Okay little duck, six months ago you were 12 minutes old! And now you're this amazing, food eating, toy holding, working on sitting, fantastic laughing little baby. I am so excited to see what month #7 brings!

Love,
Mama

Suck It, America.2

2010-11-16T20:18:00.003-05:00

I accidentally ordered 800! diapers for my baby. I meant to only order 400, but oops. Now we're down to single digits of diapers for Miss Bean. Her order won't be here till Thursday at the earliest. Oops.

I feel pretty crappy (pun intended!) about all this. We should switch to cloth ones, but I just can't bear to deal with more laundry. As it, we're surrounded by teams of it. And then when we finally do it, we can barely manage to put it away. But still. These diapers are just going to sit in a landfill forever.

Kids are just terrible for the environment. Seriously almost everything I've bought in the past few days has been stuff for the kids. Actually the only money I spent today was at the pet store. The Bean and I bought a bone for a dog she's especially fond of. I think it's an edible bone so at least that won't be in the landfill with all those diapers.

Suck it, America

2010-11-12T13:50:00.003-05:00

We got the mini van! And I love it. And I drove it to walmart and bought the baby cheap clothes because for some odd reason she has none. Can't figure it out. We had another baby two years ago and that baby had clothes that we kept. Maybe it's because Miss K is huge and baby clothes shrink. She won't be 6 months till next week, but she's already in 6-9 month stuff and she can wear some 9 month stuff already.

I used to be a good person. I took the train. I walked a lot. I shopped at the food coop. Now, I'm all evil in my big car going to the big box stores to dress and diaper my offspring.

I still recycle though.

Whew.

Cute Things My (Older) Daughter Says: Feel Free to Skip This Post If You're Not Related Or Just Not In The Mood

2010-11-02T19:52:00.004-04:00

Hi Bean!

It's been a while since this blog has been addressed to you. It's election night and while your dad wants to follow the depressing returns, I thought I might come up with a list of cute things you say because in a few weeks/months/years you won't be talking the toddler talk.

So here it is:

Garbon: This is garbage as in please can throw this in the garbon for me. You can now say garbage but garbon sounds so nice and French that we've decided that in the house we can say it while outside we use the proper word.

Mines: As in, this is mines! And this is mines! And this silly baby toy that I have zero interest in except that it's next to my sister is mines!

Pumyum: This is how you say pumpkin. You say pumpkin perfectly but now we just like pumyum better.

Pocket down Rosey: This is how you sing Ring-Around-Rosey.

"I want to be a wedding!" You are very interested in weddings and brides right now since your babysitter's sister just got married and you got to look at pictures of the bride. Yesterday you said you wanted to marry me and daddy, but later, after a short lecture on the institute of marriage, changed your mind and decided that you wanted to marry your neighbor/buddy H. You wanted to get married at his house because they have delicious grammy cookies.

Grober: As in the Sesame Street character, Grover. You always say that you like Elmo, Daddy likes Cookie Monster, I like Big Bird and Dahlia likes Grober.

Eggy/Eggie: As in Ellen, your wonderful babysitter. You can say Ellen, but perhaps unfortunately for her, we've all taken to calling her Eggy.

Bobo: This is what you called H's dog Boregard. Apparently they all call him that now.

Big Arm: This took me forever to figure out and I was so psyched when I did that I think I woke your dad up to tell him the big arm mystery was solved. Big Arm=Playground! It's unclear weather you like calling it big arm or you really can't say it.

Okay, that's all I can think of right now. Your dad insists on depressing me with the election returns.

Keep talking your blue streak, baby!

Love, Mama

Jumpin Jack Flash

2010-10-26T20:14:00.004-04:00

So....we made it back to NH, totally in love with the spaciousness of the minivan. Man, did it feel crowded back in the Impreza. I think we'll sell/trade N's outback and get something totally uncool. Actually, I like the Toyota Highlander a lot and that looks pretty cool, but I've never driven one and I have a feeling that nothing will be as spacious as a minivan.

We've gotta get a babysitter so we can go test drive some mom mobiles! How's that for fun?

What else? N's had LONG days at work this week so I've been on solo parenting duty. I feel like it's pretty mangeable although dinner was a little nutty. I didn't tell N what his first born had for dinner, but I'll tell you: cottage cheese and yogurt and frozen blueberries.

I said, "what do you want for dinner, Bean?"
Bean said, "Cottage cheese and yogurt and frozen blueberries."
So she did.
It was late. The baby was crying and hungry and tired and crying and we didn't really have anything prepared so I gave her what she asked for. Halfway through I defrosted a hot dog so she'd have some semblance of protein, but it wasn't my finest of meals.

Miss Koala had gobs of squash and oatmeal. She LOVED it. At least she got happy when I fed her and cried when I stopped. After a while I had to stop since it seemed liked she was eating too much for someone her size even if she is enormous.

We started feeding her solids for dinner over the weekend instead of giving her a bottle. She was SO happy. It defnitely helps her feel more settled when she nurses before bed. But I have to feed her early, not too close to bedtime, or she gets too full and kind of sick. I messed that up tonight. But it was so nice out this afternoon and we went down to the playground where there were a million kids and you know this weather isn't going to last and we just kept running into people we knew and it was one of those nights where you give your kid what she asks for for dinner because then you don't actually have to think of something.

Oh, and yesterday, Bean had strawberry ice with whipped cream and a cherry. For lunch.

5 Months!

2010-10-19T20:41:00.002-04:00

Miss Koala!
You are 5 months old today! In NYC! You were supposed to be 5 months in NYC, CT, MA, VT, and finally NH, but we stayed one more day in New York because your papa N got food posioned and spent the earliest parts of the morning puking puking puking. One lesson you should no know at your wise old 5 monthiness is: DON'T ORDER THE FISH ON MONDAYS!

Moving right along, you seem to be growing up and out and long! You're are super aware of your surroundings now and I feel confident that when I bring you to places like the playground or gymnastics that you will enjoy it (to the best of your non-mobile abiities) and then, when you've had enough stimulation, take a quick nap.

Getting you to go to bed has gotten so much easier this month. In fact, I really don't remember the last time we used the swing! Yay! I am starting to wonder if you might like to have a bottle instead of nursing before bed though. I think you get so tired that nursing is too much and you get a little hysterical. So we might try incorporating that during your sixth month. I think you also might be ready to have some dinner. There may be some mushy goodness in your future, little one.

This is also, hopefully, the last month that you'll be swaddled. It's time to say good-bye to that rarely washed cotton wrap, dude.

You haven't rolled or really attempted to roll again this month,but I'm confident that you'll be moving soon enough and I really enjoyed doing a whole yoga class two weeks ago when you so chilly lay on your back and listened the whole time. You have discovered your feet, which is pretty exciting. For you.

Okay, this post was just interrupted by YOU! For the second or maybe third time this evening (and you've been asleep for less than 3 hours!) you've woken up and needed a cuddle. You've been sleeping horribly in New York. I don't know if it's that you're going to bed hungry (which I kind of doubt since you're huge) or you're teething like crazy or you don't like sharing a room anymore, but it's been a little bit of a nightmare. Actually, you haven't been sleeping that great in NH either, baby. And you know, you're kind of old now and mama's kind of tired, so let's work on improving this, 'kay?

Although there have been some scratches, I'd say all in all violence against babies has been down this past month.

Your sister has decided that you're going to be a monkey for Halloween. While in the city, I found a cheap costume, which I hope will fit you in 12 days, monkey girl.

You're still smiling and laughing AND pooping a lot, which is a lot of fun.

Here's to an unswaddled, sleeping longer stretches month #6!
Love,
Mama

Later, Skater!

2010-10-13T20:33:00.002-04:00

Sorry for the silence. With all my free time between diaper changes and nursing and getting in all the playground time we can, I somehow have managed to neglect ye little blog. Anyway, we've been having a time here: Miss Koala has found her feet, The Bean has decided that she's going to be a lollipop eating COWBOY this Halloween, and we've rented a minivan to see how we does it and we're heading down to NYC tomorrow!

When we return on Tuesday, Miss Koala will a humongous 5 months and we might have sold ourselves on a new boat.
Updates to follow.

Another Fall

2010-09-28T21:23:00.003-04:00

Miss Bean has been saying, "Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn," this past week. And although it was annoyingly humid today, those leaves are changing and dropping off at a really rapid rate.

This is my third fall up here. The first one struck me as the most beautiful. Perhaps because it was my first and because I was so tired that everything was just a little bit druggy. Last year I felt like the colors were too patchy. And this one is...well I don't know. It seems fast. I know what's coming although I don't know how it's going to be with two kids. I feel like we have to be outside all the time while we still can. Even when it gets cold, I think I'll try and get the girlies outside for a stroller walk everyday. We have these super cozy bundle me things for the stroller....if I make sure they've got hats and gloves how miserable will they be in zero degree weather?

I know they're gonna hate it, but I truly believe everyone is better mentally and physically when they get fresh air.

In other news Miss Koala HAS A TOOTH! I know, she's only four months. It's on top too, which I think it pretty unusual. It kind of explains her wacky a doodle nursing of late. Maybe she's reconsidering that sandwich N offered her last week....

Four Months! And Counting!

2010-09-19T11:41:00.003-04:00

Today, Miss Koala, you are four months! Go you! We celebrated this milestone by taking you to Kmart and buying all kinds of cheap Chinese crap that we can't live without. On a happier note, here's what you've been up to:

Smiling/laughing: You're doing this a lot more. Some objects really make you smile. You like the little blue monkey and the elephant the best. Early in the morning is your best time. You're a pretty happy baby except when you're tired/hungry/full of poop, which is probably 78% of the time.

Crib: You've been in your mini crib in your tiny room for the past five nights. The first three were pretty rough. You woke up more frequently and wouldn't take the paci. Just the act of having to get up made me exhausted. But it seems like you're getting more used to it. Last night you did an initial five hour stretch.

Sleeping: The last few weeks/month it's been kind of a nightmare getting you to settle down (not cry) before going to bed at night. For some reason, you're usually okay going down for a nap, but the evening hours are not happy ones for anyone. We've been in this situation of either putting you in the swing after an hour of crying or letting you nurse yourself into a coma. I think all the crying makes you pass out from sheer exhaustion. The other night though, I was able to get you settled without a long stretch of crying. I've been rocking you in the glider in your room, which you like. I'm looking forward to having you sleep unswaddled. It seems sort of silly at this point since you're able to bust out of it so quickly, but the few times I've put you down without it, you flailed and cried.

Gymnastics: You've flipped once on both sides. You spent a lot of this week on your side, attempting to flip from your back to your stomach, but got incredibly frustrated. You love to be held in a sitting up position so you can look out.

Holding: You can hold onto your monkey and parts of your elephant. I don't think there's 100% cognition that you're the one doing the holding, but I think by next month there will be.

Pooping: You've got some issues there, honey. Last Sunday, after five days without going, we had to take action, which you were not happy about. Hopefully we won't have to do that again.

Battle Wounds: You big sister has had a few relapses. You had a minor eye gauging and still have a scratch on your head. I'm sorry about this, little love. Hopefully this next month will leave fewer emotional and physical scars.

Eating: You're full o' milk. Your dad offered you a ham on rye this afternoon to see if you were interested in food. You looked at him like he should know better. I think we'll wait till next month to start solids.

Here's to a rolling, laughing, pooping, smiling, wound-free fifth month.
Love,
Mama

A Room of Her Own

2010-09-14T21:35:00.002-04:00

So tonight, without any fanfare, Miss Koala was put into her new mini crib in her OWN room. It seems like it could be going a little better--she only went 2 hours before she woke up, but I'm hopeful things will improve. I'm excited to have my bedroom back. I might get all kinds of crazy and read The New Yorker. In bed!

More updates later.

Updates!

2010-09-06T20:44:00.000-04:00

It's September, isn't it? The Bean is about to start her second week of school. It's 2 mornings a week from 9-11:30. She seems to like it although she's not at all forthcoming with the activities. I'm pretty sure they sing a goodbye song, do something with mats, don't sing the ABC's, and are not serving donuts of bunny crackers for snack.

She was REALLY tired and hungry after her first day on Tuesday. On Thursday she seemed a little more used to it. I want to get into a routine with Miss Koala on these mornings; this week we stayed home, she cat napped, I talked on the phone, wandered around, but it was nice to be home with just one and have a little quiet morning time with just Miss K. Soon enough I imagine she'll be sad that Miss Bean is gone, but until then it's cool bonding time.

Last Wednesday, I took both girlies to a drop-in gymnastics gym. It was okay while the baby slept, but when she woke up it got a little hellish. I was trying to comfort her and keep half an eye on The Bean. It's a huge space and while there are instructors, it's really up to the parents to assist the kids through the circuit. Eventually, I took the baby out of the stroller and she was quasi entertained for a few minutes, but then she just let loose and wouldn't stop crying. Bean did get a solid thirty minutes of playing, but she was enjoying it so I felt sad to make her leave. But them the breaks, kids. Miss K sobbed until we got off the highway and then slept soundly for a good 40 minutes while Bean galavanted outside. Why couldn't she have slept like that when we were out? Anyway, I think my volunteer (a lady who come over once a week) is going to come and stay home with Miss K, which will be great.

This past weekend we made our second pilgrimage to Portsmouth. This year, since we had another baby, we spent the big bucks to get a hotel downtown and a room with a suite. That way the girls could nap seperatley, but at night, when they were both good and asleep, N and I could watch bad TV. I was a little nervous about all four of us sleeping in the same room, but it worked out and a good time was had by all. We walked around a lot, went to a few shops, the Bean got ANOTHER BABY BECAUSE HER DAD IS A SOFTIE, we had a nice dinner and some good beer at the Portsmouth Brewery, and on Sunday we went up to Maine to see Nick's cousins. The Bean had a fabulous time. She got to eat muffins, strawberries and blueberries galore, walk on a wiggly bridge, see some chickens, and chase seagulls at the beach. Both girls (and mom) were pretty beat by the time we got back last night.

Today we did The Rail Trail Ramble. We made it about a 1/2 mile or so---Bean on her bike (pushed by N) and Miss K in her stroller pushed by Mama---before we turned around and went to eat BBQ on the green. We spent the evening eating impromptu Indian with friends from out of town.

All in all, it was a nice labor day and a good, if slightly overwhelming summer.

Here's to a good first day of school to N, a good 3rd morning of Toddler Time for Bean, and a good morning nap for Miss K during her first Mama-Baby yoga class tomorrow.

Happy Fall.

3 Years!

2010-08-25T21:02:00.002-04:00

Got hitched 3 years ago today.
Seems longer. In a good way:)

2 Years!

2010-08-24T20:30:00.004-04:00

Two years ago today we moved in here with our 3 week old bambino. It was crazy. My dad and brother drove up the Uhaul with the remnants from our Bklyn apt. My aunt, her partner, my sister-in-law, and her friend all helped unload it. I was forced to nurse at a rest stop without my beloved Boppy since N had mistakenly sent it on the Uhaul. The Bean was wearing this terrible flowered outfit/pajamas. Granny ran like a crazy lady with her through the parking lot. I got a terrible dehydration headache from so much nursing and not enough water. The bed we were sleeping on collapsed and we ended up on a deflated aerobed in what's now Miss Bean's room. The Bean wouldn't go to sleep so N drove her around to the shopping horror that is 12A at eleven at night.

And today? The GIRLS!! slept until 6:30. We hung out. Our almost 13 year old neighbor came over to play with The Bean. She gave her 5! slightly loved stuffed animals as a bday present and now she has a new doggie with a PINK collar that she loves. Miss Koala took two short morning naps. She also had some rocking tummy and standing time. She smiled a lot. N went to 12A to take pictures, buy stuff, and do the recycling. Bean and Mama had eggs and tomato soup for lunch. I walked to the gym and lifted some weights. In the afternoon, The Bean and I took the bus to Hanover, which was super exciting as The Bean is very into taking the bus. We met Miss Koala and Papa N there, walked around, looked at art, bought some presents amazingly not for Bean, ran around The Green, and had an early burrito dinner outside. Everyone cried a little before bedtime, but that's par for the course when you're three months and 2 (and 34 and 35). Now, all is quiet except for the lovely sounds of N unloading the dishwasher, which I will soon load, which will hum into the night as the four of us snooze in our beds on a street in a town in a state called New Hampshire.

3 Months Miss Koala!!

2010-08-19T20:32:00.005-04:00

Oh Miss Koala,
Today you are three months! Go you! As I told you when we were chillaxing on the bed earlier this evening, things should start getting a lot better. Soon, you should be able to sleep unswaddled and then you might start rolling over and being able to sleep on your belly and grabbing things and putting things that your not supposed to in your mouth and playing with toys and eating things like bananas and apple sauce.

I feel like you've gotten especially huge this month. And cute! But you're already wearing 3-6 month clothes. Your dad accidentally put you in a 6-12 month onsie and while it was big, it wasn't that big.

You did great at sleeping this past month although for the first time in a long while we had to put you to sleep in your swing tonight:(. I'm not exactly sure why though. Normally you've been sleeping in your bassinet with minimal fussing and, even better, a few times, you've been technically sleeping through the night! Last week I nursed you at 2 because I was in a little bit o boob pain, but you slept through it and didn't wake up till 5:00. The other night you went till 2:45 without having to nurse, which was awesome. You really like your naps too. The other day you needed to nap about four or five times during the day. Maybe it's a 3 month growth spurt or maybe it was the stimulation from traveling. We finally took you to New York State! We went to the Adirondacks this week to see the grandparents, eat some Donnely's ice cream (next summer you can get your own cone!), hike, swim, see friends and test out traveling as a foursome. I'm happy to report that you and your sister were awesome. Both car rides were super easy---you slept the entire way on both trips and you and Miss Bean both slept well even though your rooms were right next to each other and the walls are super thin. The only bad part of the trip was that my back got a little wonky and we ended up leaving a day early.

You are definitely more aware of the things, my darling bear. You track me and your sister. You liked looking at the stuffed Snoopy. You give lots of social smiles when you're in the mood. You're starting to use your voice and make cute, bird-like coos. Today in the car I watched you put your sinking pacifier back in your mouth. I think that was mostly luck, but tonight you reached for my finger in what seemed like an aware way rather than the sort of instinctual grabby thing all babies do.

Your sister has improved a lot this month too. Except for a few infractions today, the hitting has gone down tremendously. But I'm afraid, Lovey that there's nothing I can do about her volume. She is just 2, you know. We might as well just try and get used to it.

I can't wait to see what happens in month 4!

Love,
Mama Bear

Happy Second Birthday, Big Girl!

2010-08-02T12:10:00.005-04:00

Today Miss Bean is 2! Can you believe it? Seems like just yesterday we were telling you she was in fact a baby, not a bean. Remember? Now she's a talking, running, playing, eating machine. Yesterday we had a smallish family party, which, in addition to the new doll family she got from her grandparents, she found a bit overwhelming and as such as spent today overtired from not going to bed till late and getting up much too early this morning. We're kind of pretending this is just a regular day since we're (insanely) having a pizza and cupcake party with a bunch of kids tomorrow.

Miss Bean is an awesome little kid. She's obviously cute, but she's also really smart and funny and, most of the time, sweet. She has an incredible memory, which is wonderful and a little scary as she won't forget things for months. She loves books and can play by herself, putting her babies and doggies to bed or organizing things, for long periods. Now she's starting to sort of learn of her numbers and ABC's. Her granny says she even smarter than her own two kids were at 2. But she might be a little biased and a little forgetful. But now that she's 2 though things are going to change. We're going to start making sure her teeth get brushed with toothpaste twice a day. Hopefully in a few weeks she'll be able to spit the toothpaste water out of her mouth instead of a.) pouring it down the drain or b.) drinking it. The other thing we're going to work on is having her pick up her toys before she goes to bed. I know this is probably futile, but you know, we've got an actual baby round these parts now so Miss Bean has to start earning her keep.

Happy Birthday, Miss Bean! We're so lucky to have you! This past year has been incredible and we look forward to all the great things your third year will bring.
Love,
Mama

BOOKS!

2010-07-28T12:35:00.000-04:00

So, what did I do with all the time I was nursing and holding The Bean when she was a babe? Remember, I didn't read/finish a book for MONTHS back then. It seems crazy since I've been reading all the time since Miss Koala was born. Did you know I even brought a book to the hospital? N thought it was crazy, but actually there's quite a lot of down time after the labor is over. Day old babies tend to sleep ALL day and there's only some much Admiration of Sleeping Infant that I can stomach. I brought The Help, which was the perfect labor, post-labor, having a new baby in the house book. When they saw it, almost all of my nurses commented that they had read it too. It's a fun book---not great literature, but very readable.

Here are the other books I've read:

The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichel
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
How Did You Get This Number by Sloane Crosley
Little Bee by Chris Cleave

All were very readable. The Magicians I didn't really like because it was too much fantasy. N dug it though. Garlic and Sapphires was pretty good, but not the great book I thought it would be. After a while, I got a little tired of the device of the costumes Reichel uses. Dragon Girl was good even though I'm not into the thriller/mystery genre. Like every third person in America, I found entertaining. Get This Number was disappointing. I enjoyed Crosley's first book of essays I Was Told There'd Be Cake, but the second wasn't as funny or interesting. Little Bee was a page-turner and I liked it up until the last fifty pages of so, but I can't remember why exactly. I just started Lit by Mary Karr. And 1-2-3 Magic: How To Discipline Your 2-12 Year Old because The Bean has been on the ATTACK lately.
What are you reading?

Two Months!

2010-07-19T19:56:00.006-04:00

Sweet Girlie Girl,
Today you are two months old, Miss Koala! And, you are rocking the percentiles: 95th% in weight, just over the 75% in height, and the 90th% for your big ol head. You had your first taste of things other than boob milk today: the Rotovirus vaccine which is a sweet liquid administered orally and some Tylenol administered by mama this evening. You liked both quite a lot! You also got a huge number of vaccines in the form of three shots, which made you quite fussy tonight. I felt so bad for you. You were really miserable--over tired and probably feeling quite yucky. It took a lot to get you to go to sleep and I ended up putting you in your swing even though in talking with the doctor we decided it's better to get you more used to your bed. The swing is okay if we're desperate though and tonight just didn't seem like the right time to force the initial sleep in the bassinet. You are capable of falling asleep in there---I haven't had to put you in the swing in the middle of the night. So now we just have to work on breaking the habit. For both parents and baby.

What else other than your tremendous growth? You're cooing more, we think we've seen some smiles, you've had some ENORMOUS poops (conveniently all over your dad and not mama), and when you are awake you're definitely taking in your surroundings. It seems like you can get over stimulated in the evenings---we're still trying to figure out when exactly is a good time for you to go to bed.

You seem pretty easy going although the day after I said that to N last week, you got a bit fussy. But you don't seem to really cry unless you're tired or hungry or like the other morning in some kind pain. You're up regularly, every 2-3 hours, in the night---that first week when you went for four hour stretches (and that one 6 miraculous one) were teases. Your favorite eating time seems to be around 3 am.

Oh, and this month, right at week 7 you FINALLY accepted the pacifier! Interestingly, it's the same (and only) kind your sister liked.

You've been hit by sister around 600 times this past month. Luckily, it's not usually very hard, but she has, on a few occasions, caused you to cry. So, just between you and me, when you're 2 and she's 4 and you whack her because she takes your toy or won't share her snack, I'm going to fake yell at you and give you a fake time out. Cuz just that one time, she might deserve it. You gotta get a little revenge somehow, right girlie?

Oh, and when it's not a 8000 degree humidity heat wave, one of the best things about this month has been snuggling with you. You seem like you're getting pretty snugly. Here's to lots of snuggling for month #3!
Love, Mama

Twelve Days!

2010-07-12T08:52:00.003-04:00

For some reason, perhaps I was inspired by N's pledge to (mostly) go off the internet for the next few weeks, I decided to give up Facebook AKA The World's Biggest Time Suck, for the month of July. So far, it's not painful. And I spend SO much less time on the computer.

I won't give it up forever, but maybe when I go back I won't feel compelled to check it multiple times a day.

Heat Wave

2010-07-07T20:23:00.003-04:00

Yeah, I know you know. But are you nursing a 12 + pound super sweaty swaddled up baby? I'm gonna be so happy when it breaks. So is N if just that it means I'll stop moaning about the heat.

Speaking of N, do you know that he made the world's most delicious salad for dinner tonight? It was SO GOOD. Greek and summery and he shouldn't change a thing when he makes it again.

Maybe the heat has gone to his head, but he also made dinner last night. That's TWO nights in a row, y'all. Hooray for Jamie Oliver's $5.00 iPad app!

Today Miss Koala is 7 weeks old. She's such a sleepy girl. I don't know how much of it is her, the heat, or us. Basically we swaddle her and stick her in a swing in our room, which is moderately air conditioned and she sleeps...oh, all day. She'll wake up to nurse a little bit, but after an hour or so she wants to go back to sleep. I've actually had to wake her a few times because I was worried she'd been sleeping too long and would get dehydrated. Miss Bean wasn't like this at all. It was impossible to get her to nap, but maybe that was because we didn't to the swaddle/swing method during the day. We crazily tried to get her to sleep in her bassinet. Silly parents. Miss Koala does spend part of each night sleeping in her bassinet, but she starts off in her swing and ends up in our bed. Luckily, our pediatrician said nothing you do it really "habit forming" in the first three months.

Oh, and Miss Koala has finally come to terms with the fact that sometimes all life offers is a plastic nipple. Yesterday was a MAJOR breakthrough with the pacifier. And today she had some good long spells with it too. I predict in no time that she'll be an addict like Miss Bean was too.

Miss Koala: One Month

2010-06-19T21:17:00.003-04:00

Oh Miss Koala,
I do hope you are sleeping upstairs. I imagine you are since it's quiet. It's not that you're a huge crier---you're really not, but you love to nurse nurse nurse even when you're not really hungry just very very tired and sometimes mama just can't do it anymore and has to hand you off to Papa N. It's been a little trickier getting you to go to sleep the past few nights, but all in all you've been a good baby.

Your life has started off so differently than your big sister's. The labors were night and day---yours being tremendously easier. We didn't have to move last week, which was wonderful. But you have a lot more noise in your life than your sister did. And even though she tries to be gentle, you are often getting poked and prodded by Miss Bean. With the Bean I felt like it took me weeks to sleep deeply enough to feel somewhat rested. With you, we're breaking all our rules and letting you sleep in the bed with us 95% of the night....This way we're all able to sleep. I would've have been much too worried to do this with your sister, but with you I'm able to prop your head up on the crook of my arm and sleep well. But I'm hoping that next month you'll be sleeping in your basinette more and more.

In some ways I'm able to enjoy you more than I was able to enjoy your sister at your age. Not having to move, having Papa N around, having friends around, being fluent in toddler/baby talk, having done this once before all contributes to this. But at the same time I have expectations that I didn't have with The Bean. Because I know nights like this won't last forever, I can't help but sometimes want to speed things up. I know how much better it will be for everyone when you can sleep on your belly in your own room and sit up and smile and laugh and eat bananas. And so on....I hope these expectations don't force you to grow up too fast.

All in all the month has gone by pretty quickly. It's exciting to see you opening your eyes more and more each day.

Here's to a wonderful second month!

Love,
Mama

Introducing: Miss Koala!

2010-05-24T09:39:00.003-04:00

The Bean has a sister!
Miss Koala was born on Wednesday, May 19th at 7:43 PM. She weighed 8 pound 2 oz and was 20.5 inches long.
We think she's gorgeous!

Things will likely be quiet around here while N and I learn how to parent 2!

Being Me: 39 Weeks And Counting

2010-05-18T14:33:00.003-04:00

If I stand for too long, my feet hurt.
If I sit for too long, my back hurts.
If I lie down for too long, my back and hips hurt.
I'm not even going to talk about the heartburn and spontaneous vomiting.

Yeah, I'm done with being pregnant. Not looking forward to labor, but very excited to meet (and name?!) Baby Meow Meow aka #2! Also very excited to wear pants without elastic and see my feet.

Books?

2010-05-10T20:55:00.003-04:00

So it feels like I'm at the doctor's office like every day now, but it's only once a week. Normally it's pretty quick too---pee, get my blood pressure done, get weighed, listen to Baby Meow Meow's heart, and go home. It's not weird for me to be the only person in the waiting room. Another 10 pts for NH. But today felt like I was back in the New York. It was crowded y'all and I had to wait an hour! I was so mad at myself for not bringing my library book---it's very slim pickings in the waiting room and only a National Geographic that I've already looked at in the office itself. Anyway, I got to thinking how I've been reading a lot lately. I think I'm trying to get it all in although I'm hopeful it won't take me quite as long to get back to reading as it did with The Bean.

So here's an update of some of the recent books I've read.

Amy Bloom's Where The God of Love Hangs Out: I just finished this collection of short stories but a bunch of them are connected and I like those ones best. Bloom is a good writer and this was a quick read. The stuff is heavy but in a lightish way: affairs, older people ailments, parental rage. I took a class with Bloom back in the day and she was so self-involved that it's kind of marred by opinion of her. But still. She knows how to write a story and she's especially good at endings.

Elizabeth Gilbert's Committed: I took this out because I was so surprised that my little library had it and like almost every other white chick in America I dug Eat, Pray, Love. This book is also non-fiction and while I wasn't really all that interested in the "history" of marriage (I was more interested in Gilbert's story about remarrying after an awful divorce) I surprised myself by reading it all and reading it quickly. When I was done with it, I didn't have any insight into my own marriage, but I do think it's interesting how different cultures view marriage. Love marriages are great, but it's the arranged ones that historically work.

Julia Child's My Life in France: This was a lot of fun, actually. Julia Child was a really funny, kooky, lady. I liked reading about her life with Paul and the beginning of her love affair with food/cookery.

Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge: This is a great book. You should read it right now. It's interconnected stories about elderly people in coastal Maine. The writing is so good and the characters are believable and interesting.

I'm sure I'm leaving something out, but I can't remember. Also, there are no books by men up here either. Oh well. I just bought Michael Lewis' The Blind Side, which is about football so that should balance something out. Except "Real Simple" came today and it's all about organizing your life, which may take over everything.

Full Term!

2010-05-03T20:17:00.003-04:00

Yup, I'm 37 weeks today. It seems like there might be a baby 'round these parts sometime within the next five weeks or so.
Wait, let me rephrase that.
THERE'S GOING TO BE A BABY HERE? IN LIKE A MONTH?

Better!

2010-04-29T19:05:00.002-04:00

Finally better. And this morning N and I were up BEFORE THE BEAN! Because she SLEPT TILL 7:00! It was very weird. N was up way before us, but while we waited for her I felt like we were the parents of a teenager and we were waiting to yell at her for coming home so late.

I know better than to think this might happen again. But maybe the darkening shades we put in her room are working?

Hell

2010-04-25T08:05:00.004-04:00

I don't know what I did to piss off the Gods, but man have I been paying. It started off mildly enough with a week of poor sleeping due to terrible sore throats. Then, the sore throat turned into a cold, which turned into a sinus infection and bronchitis bad enough to warrant antibiodicts. But the small stomach and all the phlegm I coughed up along with the meds turned into me throwing it all up. So I stopped the meds early (with the doc's okay, of course) but I'd still spent the last week vomiting dinner after these insane coughing fits. Pleasant.

Finally stopped vomiting and coughing so darn much only to wake up yesterday with a most painful, can barely move bruised rib. The smallest movement is soooo painful. This has been going on for WEEKS! I don't think I can take anymore. I just hope Baby Meow Meow holds on so I can heal. Would not want to labor with this pain.

I Hate Sippy Cups (and Some Other Things Too)

2010-04-20T20:19:00.009-04:00

1. I hate sippy cups. They're so annoying. We have around a million and have probably lost around a thousand, but they're never where you need them to be. And The Bean is such a water drinker, which is good, but lord above if you go out and don't have a sippy cup. Then you have to buy bottled water at the store, stick a straw it and stop every two feet to give her a drink.

Can I tell you how many times we've run the dish washer because all the available sippy cups were in it? Three sippy cups, one plate, and a spoon and let's just use 10,000 kilowatts of energy. I'll spend 15 mins looking for a clean sippy cup only to find 17! sippys in the car. Well, what's one more?

2. I hate baby socks. They're so little. They're all over the house. They're never together and they're never in the drawer. And you can't send the kid out without socks. How come I've NEVER seen anyone else's kid in two different socks? What do they do differently? You know I'd toss all the current socks and buy 50 pairs of the same sock for The Bean except her feet keep growing.

3. I love Baby Bella, but I kind of hate her too. Baby Bella is the teeniest baby ever and has this hat around her neck that goes on and off and off and on. The Bean LOVES Baby Bella (most babies aren't named and if they are they usually happen to be named after Her Beaniness) and spends about 600 hours day looking for Bella because she's so small and about 900 hours DEMANDING that I (or N) put the baby's hat back on. Today I was really tempted to cut the stupid hat off, but, and this probably the true part that I hate, I was scared. I was scared to cut a stupid hat off a small plastic baby because it was nap time and I thought if the hat was truly off, Miss Bean might never nap again.

Then, after nap (which was nice and long happily), I was just scared of the trauma it might induce if I did snip the hat. The baby cost a $1! Why do have to think about it so?

4. My car. I just want it to be clean and not full of ancient toddler snacks and sippy cups and crumbs and a million kid books and, have I mentioned the crumbs?

Don't You Want to See This Movie?

2010-04-13T20:15:00.003-04:00

Mommy and The Bean do! They've watched the trailer 800 times this month!

Should N Buy An iPad?

2010-04-06T19:01:00.003-04:00

The poor sleeping has continued here at The House of Bean's. Last night we had to go into her room a total of 6! times. I'm 75% sure it's a combo of molar teething and the rapid rate of her development and the fact that it's still pretty light when she goes to bed. And also I think she's overtired. Not to mention who wouldn't want their mom or dad to hold their hand through the crib rails ALL NIGHT? Today I tried to compensate by putting her down for her nap and bedtime early. I think maybe we've been trying to stick to a "schedule" too much and if a kid hasn't slept well (in a week!) then maybe they should nap an hour early. The nap went pretty well---she yelled for a bit, but didn't attempt to destroy her crib by shaking it violently like she's been doing. I left before she woke up, but her sitter said she slept for just under two hours which is good. She cried for about 10 minutes now, but let us hope this silence is not the lull before the shrieks.

We had a very nice Easter here with N's family. The Bean was very well behaved, but even when she's not people think she's cute.

My due date was 7! weeks from yesterday. I'd like to go early (not too) this time around, but N says I have to stop wishing/thinking that because I'll be in a very bad mood when Baby Meow Meow is 2 weeks late. This week our friends are going to help N move of the office so we can start attempting to make it a nursery. I'm looking forward to it--- since I had to move with Miss when she was 3 weeks old, it will be nice to have things up on the wall, places to nurse, change, etc.

Did you know it's driving me crazy that we don't know if it's a boy or a girl?
Luckily, N and I have agreed to name him/her iPad. We're hoping this gets some media attention so N won't have to shell out $500 for a new toy.

Rain Rain Rain

2010-03-30T13:52:00.003-04:00

It's been raining for days up here. Good thing we got The Bean some new yellow rain boots and green rain jacket. She really likes splashing in the puddles, but today it's really too cold to splash. And she was so tired she literally fell asleep in her tomato soup at lunch. Messy!

We were having a good run when day light savings began. She was sleeping till about 6:30, which was so nice. But for the past 3 mornings, she's been getting up before 6! Yesterday, for the first time in a long time, she refused to take a nap, which is probably why she was sleeping in her soup this afternoon. Hopefully this rainy afternoon will help her to take a good, long nap and hopefully get her back on schedule.

Now that she mostly sleeps through the night, I feel worried about the sleep deprivation that's in my future in about 2 months or so. The Bean didn't sleep through the night for 9! months. I hope her sibling does it a bit sooner. I've heard of kids sleeping through when they come home from the hospital, but I don't think that's really likely. That might make me nervous actually....

N and I had a great weekend away since Granny and Grampy were nice enough to come up and provide The Bean with maple syrup and coffee cake along with tender loving supervision this past Saturday and Sunday. N and I went up to this nice inn in Stowe, VT. It was a late bday present for him and a bit of a baby moon. Because it's monsoon season we were able to get a luxury room for the non-luxury price. I think it might have ruined me for chain hotels. It's really pleasant to have a bathrobe when you get out of the jacuzzi! The best part was probably the heated outdoor pool though. That and not having to be on a schedule. It was a revelation to be like it doesn't matter what time it is...we have no one to care for.

My back is still giving me issues, but I suspect it will till Baby Meow Meow makes an appearance. I just need to maintain it so it doesn't go out again. I've been seeing a chiropractor who always says, "a pound in front is a pound in back." This is upsetting because the next few weeks are about Baby Meow Meow plumping up! It's hard to tell if the chiro stuff is working. It kind of depends on the day. I might try acupuncture too.

Any thoughts y'all?

Losing

2010-03-22T20:10:00.002-04:00

You know how I wanted to ruin N's TV viewing and have Baby Meow Meow on 5/23 (instead of 5/24, which is the due date)? Well, I had an OB appointment today and somehow this came up. I was all about to explain "Lost" to my doc, when she told she was obsessed with it too! In fact, she said, this was the first season she and her husband were watching it in real time.
Ahhhhhh!!!!! What if they wanna watch it in the delivery room?

Is March The New February?

2010-03-14T19:27:00.003-04:00

Sorry for the silence. We just got back yesterday from what was supposed to be a trip to sunny Florida and what ended up an almost week-long stay in New York. We were supposed to fly out of LaGuardia on Tuesday, but on the drive down on Sunday The Bean's little cough seemed to get much worse. And she added a lot of sneezing and most likely a fever. On Monday we were 99% sure we were going to change our flight to Wednesday, but on Tuesday afternoon, when her fever kept going up and her mood kept going down, we took her to the doctor who diagnosed her with "bulging ear drums." Thank goodness we decided not to get on the plane as her drums would have ruptured and she would have screamed till they did. I've never seen Miss Bean so sick for so long. She was just miserable and therefore she only wanted me or N, but mostly me. We couldn't leave her with my parents at all, which is weird. Plus, they both worked so basically N and I split up the days. I stayed with cranky Bean in the mornings while he went and did art stuff and he stayed with cranky Bean in the afternoon while I went to the movies. I know I should have gone to museums, but The Bean was so clingy and draining that all I wanted to do was sit and eat popcorn in the dark for 2 hours.

We took her outside once or twice a day to look for dogs in the park or kids in the playground, but she was so exhausted that we really could only be out for 15-30 mins. My folks have a nice apt, which they nicely let us destroy with all our stuff every time we visit, but I got really sick of it. Remember, the Bean and I were there for ten days back in January. On the plus side, the weather was great when we first got there (went downhill towards the end) and I did get to see my bro, N and I got to go on a carnivous date, I saw movies in the theater and met up with an old friend for a quick lunch, but overall my mood was pretty sour.

N got sick in the middle of the night on Saturday, but managed to drive us home in the afternoon. The Bean was a trooper, but today was the first day I felt like she was mostly better. Then this morning my back went out. We kind of saw it coming: seven nights on a pull-out couch, a very needy Bean, a 4+ hour drive home without much of a stop. Ugh. On the positive side, at least this didn't happen on Tuesday morning when N has to be back at work. And at least it didn't happen before the car ride back home. I'm hoping that since N was able to tend to Bean all day (unlike the other times it's gone out) and he'll be home tomorrow, that I'll heal a little quicker and be more okay on Tuesday. Of course this is the week our babysitter is on vacation!

But you know what takes away all the pain? Or most of it?
The Bean used her potty for the first time tonight! Go Bean Go!

Hooray For March!

2010-03-01T19:58:00.002-05:00

Today was a pretty cold, gray day, but who cares! It's March, which means February is over! Last February was the worstest---N was sick for like the whole month, The Bean and Mama were not sleeping nearly enough, we didn't get out enough so we wuz mean and cranky. This February was so much better. No major illnesses except for an annoying night cough from me, which lasted less than a week.

Tomorrow The Bean will be 19 months and I have to say as much as babies are cute and all, I'm digging the whole toddler scene more. I love being able to show her things and to look for things together. Her excitment about birds and dogs and pictures of babies and cake made February 2010 that much awesomer. She's so much more fun and manageable even when her newest fun thing is to run into a bedroom and close door on you or complain about the dearth of raisins in the house. Her newest trick is being able to fill in the words to songs and books. I'll sing "the monkey likes to scratch his...." and The Bean will say, "bum!" That's the most interesting version of this particular song. Trust me, the other lines are really tame.

She's also been walking up and down stairs like a champ. Today she walked up the post office and library steps using only the rail, no parental unit's hands! Go Bean Go! You make your mama and papa N so proud!

3 Months From Today

2010-02-24T16:36:00.003-05:00

is Baby Meow Meow's due date!
But I'm planning on ruining N's night and having the baby a night early so he'll have to miss the season--oh wait---the SERIES finale of that show....
Yeah, I'm like that:)

Winter Blahs and Blues (But No Whites)

2010-02-12T18:49:00.005-05:00

So it's not that I wish we had the blizzards that the mid-Atlantic states got or anything. Being snowed in with The Bean doesn't sound too fun, but....Would we really be snowed in? NH is mad good at plowing and people here don't become shut-ins because of a few feet of snow. I guess snow seems a little tempting if only because we could go sledding again and it's nice to look at. We have nothing here but ugly grass and patches of ice, but it's still too cold and windy to spend much time outside. The most Miss Bean can usually stand is 10 mins and then we have to come in and have either tea (she gets milky weak decaf) or warm milk with cinnamon and honey. The above pic is from last year was just moments before N slipped on the ice at Lake Morey and The Bean cried for 45 mins and then projectile vomited all over the director of N's old camp.

Today Miss Bean refused to take an afternoon nap. At one point she called "Mommy" when I was outside her door so I went into her room (she'd been fussing for a while) and she'd wedged the three baby dolls between her crib and the wall so they were looking over at her. Forty minutes later, when the nap mission was aborted, I brought her onto our bed and told her she had to be quiet. She would be for a minute or two, but when I'd open my eyes, she'd be an inch from my face grinning. It was hard not to laugh. It's nice that she's getting a sense of humor.

Not funny for Miss Bean was that I took her to get shoes before her doctor's apt today. It was a new experience and she burst into tears when the man tried to measure her foot. I think it was because she was tired. Ditto for her hysterics at getting weighed and measured. Normally she's pretty chill at the doctor, but today she was a mess. It'll be interesting to see how she is when she goes back for her next well baby, which won't be till she's 2! Which means, assuming everything is good, we'll have another kid in tow! I figured out that her next appointment will be right around when New Baby aka Yoda aka Baby Meow Meow aka Baby G will be getting her/his 2 months vacs...so we could get both kids shots for the price of one trip! Whew!

I have no idea how I'm going to handle two kids. Really.

It's so cool how much Bean is learning and growing every day. Today she said "yo yos all gone" when she finished the raisins I bribed her with and then, this evening, she not only took off her pants pretty much unassisted, but she went so far as to put them in her hamper! You go, girlie!

Okay, I'm staying OFF the web this weekend so have yourself a good one.

18 Months!

2010-02-01T20:29:00.004-05:00

Tomorrow Miss Beanie Bean will be one and half! The last six months have flown by. She's such an independent little person now. She's really talking up a storm although a lot of it is in her language. Like this morning she had oatmeal with yo-yo's and uh-oh's in it, which might confuse you but is oatmeal with apples and raisins in Beanese. The Bean is a fiend for raisins. She really won't share them with you at all!

To celebrate this past half year, N turned Bean's car seat around so she can be forward facing. She was the last of her cohort to get turned---the new pediatric guidelines say 2 (the old ones said 1 or 20 pounds) but we saw how much more comfortable her buddy Nate looked and had to to turn her. She was also running out of room with those long little legs. N drove with her to the library and he said she was very into seeing! So yay!

I know I'm biased but Bean seems very smart. She understands a tremendous amount. Today she took the "yuck" aka lint I handed her from the drier, and with minimal assistance, walked into the kitchen, pulled out the garbage, threw it out, and then attempted to put the garbage back. Yesterday I asked her to tell N which friend she saw at the gym and after a few "babies" she actually she said the name of her friend. Cool stuff, Bean!

We're still on a baby kick though. She's really obsessed. It's pretty much baby, baby, baby all day long. By the end of the day, I'm pretty sick of it, but I know it too will pass. And happily, I think she's going to be a great big sister! Very hands on as N said, but hopefully the end of the reign of the Bean won't be too traumatic or require too much therapy.

Ooops!

2010-01-22T19:33:00.004-05:00

I didn't mean to let three whole weeks of the new year go by without a post. So let's see:
We had a good, if long, time in NYC. The Bean got to experience a playgroup at the Jewish Community Center, two trips to the Museum of Natural History, some playground time, a very crowded kids section at Barnes and Noble, a trip to the St. Luke Roosevelt cafeteria so her parents could go see new baby Eve (yay!! Eve!!), a trip to Brooklyn, cab and bus rides, and multiple trips to Albee Baby where many ducats were spent procuring a snuggie-thing for the stroller, a new stroller bought by granny, a wind cover for new stroller, etc.

It was nice to be in the city, but I wouldn't want to live there with kids. At least not kids at ages that require a tremendous amount of shlepping of stuff. I likey my car, matey. More importantly, I feel like there's more to do during cold weather up here that's either free or reasonably priced. Plus, even when things are crowded, they're not NYC crowded. I'm sure I'd get used to the life, but....

That said, it's the end of January and I feel like I haven't been too ranting about snow this season. Let me just say that I miss not having to stuff The Bean in a coat and hat every time we go outside. And I miss the days when we could just go outside to our backyard when looking for something to do for the later part of the afternoon. Actually, today I just let her go coatless. I figured she was spending a total of 3 mins going from car into place and back again and it's so much easier to get her out of the house and buckled into her car seat when she's coatless. Besides, it wasn't that cold. Of course on the way home she got her shoes and one sock off, which made me look rather negligent when I brought into the house, but N didn't seem that concerned.

Then again he's been glued to some Battle Star Galatica thing since we got back so maybe he didn't notice.
I'll post sooner, loves, swear.

What I Haven't Been Posting About

2010-01-01T13:22:00.000-05:00

Yup, we're gonna have another baby at the end of May.
We're all excited about what 2010 will bring in addition to the new addition and hope you have a very happy New Year.

Happy _________________!

2009-12-23T16:51:00.003-05:00

We're up in the Adks to celebrate Xmas. Posting might be nil while we gorge on beet soup and Xmas cookies so we hope that y'all have yourself a merry whatever you wanna believe weather it be little babes in the manager or movies and Chinese.

More when we return to the granite state.

A Book Review?!

2009-12-15T20:54:00.004-05:00

So I read Lorrie Moore's The Gate at The Stairs and well, of course it was readable because Moore is a great writer, but overall I give the book a B and that's only because I'm feeling generous after slogging through my students' terrible research papers. I have two more, but I'm a tad murderous, which means I should quit while all persons are still living in the house.

Anyway, Moore's book. If you're planning on reading it, you should stop reading this now because there are some minor spoilers. If I had to sum up in one phrase why it didn't work for me I would say that it doesn't gel. It just doesn't come together in any cohesive or particularly riveting way. It's about a 20 year old college student in Wisconsin who goes to work for an eccentric woman (the husband is pretty secondary) when she adopts a half-black toddler. It's also about Tassie's brother and parents, race relations, college life, terrorists, 9/11, and the bass guitar. And potatoes.

Maybe Moore's point was to take all these seemingly disparate things and loosely connect them because life tends to be more loose connections that well gelled pieces of the puzzle, but I wanted to be lost in the plot, it's a novel for goodness sake. Instead of feeling lost though, I felt distant.

Like, Tassie, the main character, is all involved with Mary-Emma, the adopted toddler, and then SOMETHING HORRIBLE HAPPENS, and she's no longer in Mary-Emma's life and Mary-Emma isn't mentioned again for more than 50 pages. I think that's weird. Maybe it's the mama in me, but wouldn't Tassie think about this poor 2 year old? Also, it bugged me that the toddler was so perfect. I just don't buy that someone whose been in foster care would so quickly and happily adapt. I hope I'm wrong, but most two-year olds who live in stable environments from day 1 have issues and tantrums and meltdowns in large public gatherings. It bugged me that Mary-Emma never did any of these things.

Also, Tassie plays the bass so every 30-50 fifty pages she whips it out and there's a paragraph about what she's playing, but it just didn't feel real to me. It felt like Moore giving her CHARACTER SOMETHING TO DO. Inorganic I guess is the word.
Oh, and there are pages of dialogue chunks about race and kids and I found it so boring! And finding Moore boring is so sad.

So yeah. Those are my quickie little thoughts. Ms. Kakutani felt quite different though.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY J-DOG!

2009-12-09T09:30:00.004-05:00

It's a wintry day in NH. I have no idea what it's like in NYC, but I hope it's spectacular for one Mr. Unkie Speklunky Brobly!
Happy 41, Little Bro!

Although we are sort of trapped here because of the storm, today is a much better day than yesterday. At 5:30 yesterday morning, N said he needed me to help getting Miss Bean. I was a bit snippy since I was trying to ignore her and go back to sleep. Then N explained that he'd been up since 3AM vomiting, etc. I felt bad for him and got up, got Miss Bean changed and went downstairs to get her some water. I was thinking about N being sick, which made me think about last night's dinner when WHAM. I puked too.

At first I thought I had just puked because I can be sensitive to suggestion, but as the day wore on it was clear that I too had "The Bug." Since N was run over by a truck and I was merely run over by a Vespa I was in charge of the kid. I took Miss Bean with me to school because I wanted to be there to answer my students research paper questions. I probably should have just cancelled the class because less than half of them were there. I guess it was good for The Bean to get out and I was able to help N by moving his students photos out of his office.

N was a sickly shade of geen-gray when we returned. My issue was I'd vomit, feel great for about 30 minutes, and then get a slightly annoying stomach ache for 1-2 hours before it'd come to a head and I'd vomit again. Fun times.

Figures that Miss Bean would only nap 45 minutes on the day I needed a 2 hour miracle.

Although I was able to drive, I figured I shouldn't risk it so we spent hours in the house. I don't know what we did but at one point I had to hide this children's cook book that she likes (what could be better than pictures of babies and food!) because I just couldn't look at it without gagging and by the end of the day our carpet was covered in a 3-inch layer of crackers. Around 3:30 she started to get a little nutty so I took her to the daycare at the gym while I went and closed my eyes in the car. It was a good move, for her at least, because she was much cheerier when I picked her up an hour later.

So we made it through. She was in bed by 6:20 and I passed out from 6:30-7:00, but after that I gathered the strength to eat some Saltines with N and watch some TV. N and I have never been sick at the same time, but at least it was a quick bug and I was able to parent.

Being sick does make you appreciate being healthy. Hope you're all feeling well these days. Except for J-dog. He should be good and drunk by noon.

December!

2009-12-01T09:30:00.004-05:00

Hard to believe it, no? Our travels were successful. The Bean had 72 hours of non-stop fun and excitement chilling with her granny, grampy, unkie, the great aunties, her very cool 3 year old 2nd cousin, and loads of other relatives. She did well with the car time and spoiled us by sleeping in past 6! every morning. One morning she even slept till 6:45! I think it was because the rooms were so dark because she was back to her fairly normally 5:45 wake up here in NH by Monday morn.

I did okay giving her multiple car naps. The one "disaster" of the trip was when the restaurant in Newport forgot to put in our dinner order so we had to contend with an over-tired, very hungry Bean. It was a good lesson to always have food stowed away. It's nice that, with the exception of having kilos of Cheerios, bunny crackers, and raisins for snacks, The Bean can pretty much eat where and what we eat. I was very happy that I had a banana to supplement her dinner on Saturday night though. Without that "nana" things might have been even crazier than a naked toddler spinning in circles in the hotel room.

Personally, I feel like a cow. There's too much food at Thanksgiving. I wouldn't want to give any of it up, but it is pretty insane to have 35 sides, right? My potatoes were a success and as far as I know no one died eating them.

Now we're back in the swing of things. I made a butternut squash soup last night. It got much better when I took my honey's suggestion and added heavy cream and hot sauce, but it was no black bean deliciousness. I have conferences with my students about their research papers this week. It's hard to believe that next week is the last week of classes. I've really enjoyed teaching this past semester. I like the students and it's so nice to do something non-mama related for a few hours. I got a really good evaluation, but I most likely won't be teaching in the spring because they don't offer that many comp classes. The plan now is to have our amazing babysitter come twice a week (instead of once) so I can go off and write, write, edit, write. I'd like to have a send-out worthy version of my YA done by late spring and also write a short story. I used to only write short stories, but I haven't written one in about 2! years. Sending stuff of to mags might also be a good use of my non-mama time.

I'm currently reading Commencement by J. Courtney Smith. It's from the library and it's not that great, but also light enough and decently written enough that I'm going to finish it. Not sure I'd recommend it although I still have 100+ pages to go. I'm not sure why it got so much attention over the summer.

Next up is Lorrie Moore's The Gate at the Stairs and Dave Egger's Zeitoun. I do love books and being into a novel even if it's not life changing.

To top off this extra long postie, here's a pic of The Bean and her granny holding hands on the cliff walk in Newport!

Mmmmmmm!

2009-11-25T14:58:00.003-05:00

That's what The Bean says when she's eating something particularly tasty. Like mom's homemade split pea soup or soup from Price Chopper or no nitrate Chicken dogs. It's actually really nice to hear her enthusiasm especially if it is something I made. I rarely get the mmmm's from N.

I'm hoping that the mashed potatoes I just made get some mmmm's from The Bean. If the fat content doesn't kill ya, they're pretty darn good. The secret I learned last year is avoiding Russets like the plague. It's all about the Yukons, baby. They're so much easier to mash---in fact I think I might have overdone it and whipped them. Oh well. What's not to love about butter, sour cream, and the top secret ingredient?

We'll heading down to Boston tomorrow and then over to Newport for some chowder on Sat. I'm looking forward to it and forcing myself to be zen about naps. She'll sleep when she's tired, right?

Anyway, posting will probably be nil till we come back so enjoy your turkey and your family. Come on, it's family.

Other Days

2009-11-20T19:06:00.003-05:00

So yesterday The Bean woke up crying at 4:00 AM. It's the teeth thing so we pumped her with Motrin but she didn't fall back asleep till 5:00. I didn't fall back asleep till 5:45 and then I woke up with a shot at 6:00 because I had to teach. Then, I couldn't find my wallet cuz I'm forever moving it from the diaper bag to my purse to my car. I was all set to go to work without it when N. found it under a cookbook. Then, when I was driving onto the highway, the cap to my water bottle fell off, the bottle flipped out of the holder and I got soaked with freezing water while turning the corner. Of course the Xerox machine was broken by the time I got to school.

Then I had to collect research papers from students and now I have to spend the whole weekend busting my butt to read them so I can return them on Tuesday. I read two yesterday and it took forever! I'm not even grading---I'm just commenting and trying to help them. The papers are worth %25 of the final grade so I feel obligated to take the time. Ugh!

This morning The Bean got up at 5:00 (after waking up at 11:00 PM) and was in a really cranky mood. I know it's not her fault and most of the time she's pretty cheery, but by 7:00 I was begging N to take her with him to work. Things got a little better as the day progressed. We had an early morning play date here, took a short nap, and went out to lunch. Then we had two! friends over in the afternoon. I don't know when our house became play-date central. I'm mostly okay with it although I feel like I was inside too much. Hopefully, I'll be able to take a nice long walk tomorrow before we travel down to Putney, VT to see one of N's friends and her daughter.

Okay, the Internet-free weekend is beginning in like 30 seconds so the next time I'm on here I better only have 3 papers to go!
Happy weekend!

A Good Day

2009-11-17T19:15:00.003-05:00

Today was a good day. The Bean slept till 6:00! I taught a good class and The Bean took the elusive two hour nap! Yay!! By the time lunch was had, we didn't have much time till our afternoon play date at Tots and Tea. Things were okay there---Miss Bean ate a lot of sugar (Teddy Grahams and undiluted apple juice) and became a bit of a nutter. But still....some days are so long you just don't know how you're going to survive the seven hours till bedtime. Days like today feel like a small miracle.

Hopefully there'll be more days like today.

What else? I've been on a soup kick. So far I've made chicken no-Nick-Noodle, split pea, and black bean. The black bean has been N's fave thus far. Tonight's dinner was crusty bread, salad, and bean soup and he said it was "restaurant food." The trick to having decent dinners on a regular basis I have finally learned is advance planning. On the weekend we just figure out 2-3 meals we can have for the week. Nothing fancy---we had soup tonight and we're going to have a crock pot dinner tomorrow and probably Thursday we'll have leftovers and maybe takeout on Friday. Just knowing what to have and having the ingredients is most of the battle. I'm loving the soup thing because I can make a vat on the weekend when N is around and not have to think about it when dinner rolls around during the week.

Of course N and The Bean would probably be happy with pizza four nights a week, but that's why the lord made mamas!
Oh, and send your soup suggestions thisaway! What do you think about veggie chowder?

Yay Yankees!

2009-11-05T09:56:00.003-05:00

Thanks to the boys in the pinstripes, a certain NH mama doesn't have to the dinner dishes/clean-up for a week!

I wish the games weren't on so late. I could barely make it to the 4th inning for most of them and the parts that I saw were pretty exciting. Also, for the next NPR pledge drive, I'm giving to Vermont Public Radio instead of New Hampshire's. They didn't even announce the series games---they'd only be like in sports, the Celtics won, the Bobcats lost. N said this morning the announcer said something like, "The World Series ended in the Bronx last night. Some said the Yankees won."
Whatever, you sad little Red Sox fans. You're going to miss my $50 pledge. I'm so not going to miss doing the dishes though.

It's November? Already?

2009-11-02T18:30:00.002-05:00

Hope y'all had a good Halloween. Miss Bean was a sheep and although she didn't baa once in costume a good time was had by all. Some friends and their son from up in the boonies came down here cuz you know, we're all urban. The rain held off so we got to check out all the kiddies on the green. Later, we took our sleepy sheep to a little get together in our neighborhood. The Bean seemed to enjoy all the festivities. The only time she seemed scared was when she was place directly in front of a giant gorilla. But who wouldn't find that scary?

What is scary is daylight savings being over. The Bean got up at 4:30 this morning. Although this was deemed NOT OKAY by the parental units, it didn't seem to change a damn thing. We're trying to keep her up till 7:00 (her old bedtime was between 6:15-6:30) but it doesn't seem to be working. She's hungry for dinner at 4:30 and ready for bed at 5:30. What to do? What to do!

And, surprise, surprise, here's a photo for ya!

I know he's scary, but don't be afraid of the man in the big hat!

Honk If You Wish It Were Snowing

2009-10-29T09:44:00.003-04:00

The title is a reference to the sticker that has been plastered onto the stop sign at the end of my street.
No comment, here.

Sorry for the silence. We had family weekend 09 last weekend. It was a lot of fun most especially for the Bean who has realized that grandparents=attention. Attention=happy Bean.

Miss Bean knows a lot of words. Perhaps the most amazing thing is how much she understands. It seems like out of nowhere she is able to understand and do what I ask. Within reason, of course. I can say, "Beanie, can you pick up your cat over there and put it in the bag?" It's not 100%, but she can usually do it! Very exciting. Now we just have to work on getting her to put her toys away. And maybe wash a few dishes....

We've been having nap crises all week though. She's only been taking one nap, which would be okay if it was long, but yesterday it was only 30 minutes. This is very bad as Miss Bean gets wack-a-doodle drunk by the end of the day if she's sleepy. Luckily, she's been getting her zzzzs in at night, but mama needs a nap too. I think she might have a tooth eruption since she's been practically gnawing her fingers off since Saturday. Hopefully things will improve. But as N sagely points out, at least she's not protesting the night sleep. In fact, she's desperate for it and will point to her crib while I'm 1/2 through her nighttime song. And yes, it might be might my voice.

This week Bean has been insisting on having one of her baby dolls (it doesn't matter which one) in her crib when she sleeps (or doesn't sleep). I'm okay with this, but hope she doesn't get attached to a particular doll. We'd lose it since we lose practically everything.

Hopefully it won't be too miserable on Halloween. We live with an excellent baaing dog and panting sheep!

Bad News At Borders

2009-10-20T12:26:00.004-04:00

You know how I liked working at Borders because they didn't have free wifi? Well, I'm bloggering from there right now because they went all free wifi. And you know I have the will power of a goldfish.

But it's this or learning about commas so I can teach my students how to use them and frankly, commas, I don't give a damn.

So, Miss Bean got her first dose of Benadryl after her lip start swelling from something she ate on Saturday night. I feel bad that she's seemed to inherit my allergies, but she was okay and thank goodness the Benadryl made her drowsy and not jittery.

Fully recovered from her lip swelling, the three of us went to a local apple orchard on Sunday. That night we went to colleagues of Nick's for a jamboree. The Bean came and while she had fun, I can never totally enjoy myself because first I worry if she'll actually go to sleep and then, when she did fall asleep, I felt bad waking her up to drive her home. I know it's okay to do this to her once and a while, but her sleep was screwy all day yesterday and I believe it's due to the wakings.

But it was fun to hang out with new people in a new place. And the food was good, too.

Last night we had one of the new faculty over for dinner, which was fun. The babysitter had to come today and since it's been fall break yesterday and today, I've had some free time. And, as you can see from this illuminating post, I've been using it quite wisely.

This Morning I Saw SNOW on some Cars as I Drove To Work

2009-10-13T16:43:00.002-04:00

Um, yeah. Here we go again. I thought maybe of deciding to be positive about winter this year, but giving up my rants would be no fun. Plus, I need some topics to blog about as we don't want to be too Bean-centric here. This is going to be a short post since N came home early and is entertaining our off-spring and I'm going to attempt to make chicken noodle soup. From scratch. Well, mostly scratch. I did buy stock, but I really don't have that much time on my hands. Between chasing after Beanie and needing to grade 17 papers by Thursday I'm kinda rushed. But I'm excited to try non-canned soup.

In (and out of) Stitches

2009-10-05T07:00:00.002-04:00

Golly, it has been ages since I've posted. I think it's the teaching thing that's getting in the way. I've just managed to go through the stack of bills on my desk. With the job thing I feel like I'm only two people with no room for anything else. One is the teaching person and figuring out what to do with my class and the other is MOM. Having a walking child really makes me feel like I'm not capable anything else. It's so tiring that all I want to do is nap when she naps. I suppose I wouldn't feel so split if I actually did some prep during her naps, but I'm just a sleep addict these days.

But, I don't mind the teaching. I'm glad I'm doing it.

In other news we had our first hospital visit with The Bean. She took a face plant last Friday morning. I was a bad/stupid mom and didn't turn on the light as she walked into the bedroom to get N out of bed. SHe's done this hundreds of times, but I think the room was darker than usual and there were shoes and clothes by the bed and WACK! She got a cut just under her chin that required 3 stitches. Luckily, my mom was visiting so she was able to go with us to the ER. I feel so lucky that the medical care is so good up here. And empty. We were literally seen in five minutes. The waiting room was beautiful and the triage room was kid-themed. The Bean got to go home with a new monkey. And by the afternoon, after a good long nap, she was perfectly fine.

The stitches came out on Wednesday. It was actually more involved than it needed to be, but the end result was Bean getting ice cream after dinner.

In other news, I'm leaving town. In fact, I'll probably be back on route by the time this posts. I'm going to Boston Sunday-Monday, which means for the first time it's N and The Bean on their own! Watch out New Hampshire!

I'm going for a friend's baby shower, but staying overnight and really looking forward to seeing a moving,eating some decent Thai food, and sleeping past 5:00AM. Watch out Boston, Mama's in town!
Till then.
BG

Weekend Update

2009-09-21T19:09:00.004-04:00

Heya Kiddies,
The three of us went, somewhat spontaneosly, to Portsmouth, on the seacoast this weekend because I had a revelation that if we didn't take a free weekend in nice weather and go somewhere new we never would. I've always regretted not visiting San Francisco when I lived in Seattle. It was so close, but I never chose a weekend to just do it.

So, early Saturday morn we set off. Portsmouth was a nice town. There were good shops, a nice park with stuff going on, and we had fab weather too. It made me miss having coffee shops a lot though! We all had success shopping too: N got a Ghostface Killah album on CD because he is the last person on earth actually building up his music collection with actual, in-your-hands CDs, I desperately need new pants, but got two "new" sweaters at a great consignment shop, and Bean got her first ever baby doll from an amazing toy store that I'm happy is not in our town because I would spend too much money there. I think we got suckered into buying the doll because there's really not much cuter than a toddler saying "baby." We walked all around Portsmouth and got to see some cool boats, nice gardens, an amazing bubble machine, and even some fairies! The only bummer of the trip was the food. We were hoping for fresh amd tasty seafood, but it didn't happen. We chose Thai for dinner because the one Thai place near us is awful, but so was the place we chose. The Bean's tofu and veggies were delish though. And she got to discover the wonderfullness that is undiluted pineapple juice.

Speaking of pineapple juice, to celebrate our weekend on the coast, Missy B slept in till 6:15 the next morning. N and I could hardly believe it cuz she's been waking at 5:15ish for the past hellish six weeks of so. We were so happy we promptly gave her a banana and the rest of her pineapple juice right in the king sized bed. Horray for lots of pillows!

We went to a fun, quirky place for breakfast because its open 24-hours on weekends and it's exciting to go out to breakfast at 6:45 AM! After another walk through town, we drove up the coast to York, Maine! We made the right decision not to go to the Children's Museum because there was really low-tide so the Bean could scamper to her heart's delight along on the beautiful beach. Plus, there were dozens of wonderful dogs running every which way that were more than happy to play with her. The water was even warm enough for me and Bean to put our toes in.

After checking out an incredible playground with slides YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO WALK UP, we had our last touristy meal and drove back to NH because, as the Bean likes to say, as nice as it is to get away,it's even nicer to come home even if your town doesn't have any coffee shops, heavenly toy stores, or walk-up slides.

That Time of Year

2009-09-15T18:43:00.005-04:00

It's crazy how one day you notice a few red leaves in a single tree. Those leaves seem like an aberration since you're still in summer mode, running around outside most of the day and cooling off at night with a fresh squeezed lemonade at the Farmer's Market. But then, it feels like hours later, every other tree's leaves is changing and nights and mornings are downright cold.

Here we go with NH Fall #2. I'm trying to be positive. The leaves are so pretty, but it seems like every day more of them change from green to red and yellow and even more of them are on the ground. Today Missy Bean and I spent a lot of time in the house and we both felt a little nutty. But we have a membership to the science museum and even when it's cold we can take short walks to the library and art gallery. We can go out to lunch, look at books and toys at Borders, go to the pet store, grocery shopping, etc. We also have music on Fridays and we know a lot more people than we did a year ago and hopefully we'll know even more by the time the weather is downright dreadful.

Yes, I've used "downright" twice in this post. I have no idea why.

Anyway, teaching has been pretty good. The students seem pretty alert for such an early class although this could change in a few weeks. While I miss the diversity of my old school, the new has some nice things. At my old school, I worked, often taught, and took all my graduate classes on the same floor as the president. But he was in an office within an office with a door that was always closed. I saw him maybe three times in six years and two of those times were at functions. At the new school, the president's door is open and he sent a campus-wide email saying he had office hours for faculty and staff and there were even monthly brown bag lunches with him. As a lowly adjunct who needs to get home to watch the kiddo, I won't be partaking in these, but it still creates a nice vibe.

Even nicer than the pres' lunching? They let the faculty use the copy machine! Without having it under lock and key. It's in a room across from the department office and you can use it (assuming you know the code) without feeling like a criminal. At my old school, if you wanted to make your own copies (because maybe you needed the copies quickly) there would be 3-4 secretaries right next to you just waiting for you to go over the alloted number. It was pretty stressful and although I'm sure there were profs who would abuse the copier for their own use, I believe that most people wanted to make copies for the students. To uh, teach them. So that's nice.

It's a little rough having to go teach, drive back and take care of the Bean, but overall I guess I'm happy I'm back in school. It's a lot easier to be tired at work than tired with a toddler. But you should probably ask me again in six weeks.

September 11th

2009-09-11T14:07:00.001-04:00

Not Ya Mama's Blog

2009-09-09T19:26:00.003-04:00

My mama's blog is here.

I Know It's Been Too Long

2009-09-07T19:50:00.003-04:00

Sorry, loves, I didn't mean to become one of those people who never updates her blog anymore. I have no excuse but the incarceration, the failed heist, and that quicky stint in rehab.

Or maybe it's my addiction to Scrabble on the iPhone.
(Just kidding, mom. I haven't played in a few weeks. I'm totally okay. Really.)

For reals? I don't know. The summer ran away here. I think it might have to do with Missy Bean and her incessant walking. The girl can't be stopped! So yeah, there's that. And uh, I start teaching tomorrow! I haven't taught a class since May 2008! And I haven't taught freshman comp in years. But you gotta do what you gotta do. Right now I'm feeling kind of zen about it. My syllabi are all made and my darling husband presented me with a lovely attendance book and whole pack of inky pilot pens.

I'm sure I'll be tweaky as beans tomorrow though.

Have I mentioned that the class is at 8:00 AM!?

Anyway....I promise to try to not let so much time go by between posts.

And now I'm off to watch Mad Men! It's so good, you should really consider watching it.

Two Years Ago TODAY!

2009-08-25T07:51:00.005-04:00

I made a really good decision.
I wore my hair up.
Not only was it REALLY hot at the Queens County Farm Museum, but I tend to play with my hair a lot when I'm nervous or excited or it's, um, down.
Two years ago today I wasn't nervous, I was just excited to marry N, which wasn't even a decision.
Happy 2, N.E.G.
Love,
ELW

Mid-August Update

2009-08-18T20:14:00.007-04:00

Smokes: The Bean has been paci free for a solid week now. Other than one bad night (which was probably also due to heavy teething) she's been pretty cool with it. Well, she's not napping so much, but maybe she's downsizing?
Personal Grooming: Crazy times. The Bean had a bath 2! nights in a row to make up for the fact that we couldn't remember the last time she'd been bathed. Did you know her new MO is to stand up in the tub at all times? Today, her mom and dad both got their hairs cut and one of them had a pedicure and an eye-brow wax.
Weather: It's been HOT here, baby. Hot and humid. It's kind of beastly, but I'm trying to enjoy it since it's gonna be cold and gray before I know it.
Reading: I'm still reading Three Cups of Frakin Tea! But I'm going to finish it before we go to Adks on Monday. Then I have to read all the essays I'm assigning for school. Ugh. Maybe I can sneak something light and juicy in though. N is reading my manuscript, which he printed out today. Besides that I don't think he's read a book in like five months. In heavy rotation for Miss Bean is Good Night Gorilla, Dog and That's Not My Pirate, which N has also read so I guess he has read some books lately.
"Mad Men": I thought the season opening was pretty good. N liked it more than I did, but that's par for the course.
Pizza: We kind of got cocky with our p-making skillz and then got a good come-down on Sunday. The humidity make it nearly impossible for N to roll the dough out well and we timed things most poorly so the Bean was a screaming lunatic because, gasp, it was five minutes after 5:00 and the poor thing hadn't been fed. Have I mentioned that The Bean is bigger than some 2 year olds we know? The girl does not want for food, but try telling her that when you're late with supper. Her screams stressed us to no end so that the first pie was undercooked and not so tasty. The second pie was better, but whole wheat dough depressed N to no end and he ending up scrapping it and ordering Chinese.
Puppies: OMG! The puppies next door had 8! puppies and they are so cute, I want to vomit every time I see them, which is not often enough.

Houston, We Have A Walker

2009-08-11T21:52:00.005-04:00

So, um, yeah. She's walking. As of today. Previously, I don't think I'd ever seen her walk more than 4 steps although it was rumored that she had done 5 or 6. But today she was all over the place, walking from the living room, through the dining room, and into the kitchen, without crawling or falling, to see me. How cool!

By the time N gets back from his manly-man hike in the Adks on Friday, she'll be sprinting laps. He's here now, don't worry. It's a short jaunt---he'll leave tomorrow afternoon and return Friday morning.

Anyway,do you think she started walking because she STOPPED SMOKING? That's right---she's been cigarette free for 24 hours now. None last night, none for the naps today, and none tonight. You go girl! I keep thinking she'll freak out, but she really hasn't. She was up a bit last night, but all in all it really wasn't bad.

Unfortunately she's a bit under the weather. Her vacs got cancelled cuz she was running a fever and she was very mellow during our bedtime reading of Goodnight Moon. Hopefully she'll be better tomorrow.

Man, we really gotta childproof now.

Getting the Baby Off The Smokes

2009-08-10T18:54:00.004-04:00

Now that The Bean is a 1-year and 1 week and 1 day old, N and I have decided that she stop smoking. She goes without when she's playing during the day, but naps and nighttime? She's a fiend.

I had the honor of putting her in the crib san ciggies this evening and it didn't go well. I was so nervous about the whole thing that I plopped her down without singing to her or remembering to turn off her music. She was in hysterics so N went up, discovered the still playing music and turned it off, and soothed her. She's sleeping now---the crying thing wasn't too long in the scheme of crying babies, but we think she's going to wake up during the night a lot.

Oh well. What can you do? I have to say that the saddest sight was watching her look for, but not find the pack of smokes when I put her in the crib.

In other news, her bday parties were a success, she got some great gifts, and is really starting to toddle. She also knows the words balloon, banana, and royal flush although the lack of smokes might hurt her poker face.

We're excited that we found a new babysitter---she seems great and she can come on Thursdays during the semester so N can go to work early and I can have some hours in the day (AFTER teaching my 8 AM class) to get stuff done. Yay!!

We're grilling champs over here, too. Our neighbors/landlords just commented that we're "always grilling." I over cooked the zukes, but the chicken was nearly perfecto tonight. So, hooray for propane, babysitters, and Nicorette gum!

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, BABY GIRL

2009-08-02T11:55:00.003-04:00

Dear Bean,

Last year at this time, we were in a hospital room in New York City, wondering what was going to happen now that the Bean had become YOU! And today, in Lebanon, NH, you did so many things including: crawling all over the place, pushing your new wagon all over the lawn, inhaling a giant cupcake at your first birthday party, "reading'" your new dog book, eating your body weight in fruit, drinking milk by yourself from your sippy cup, playing with bath toys while standing up in the tub, and getting more dirty than I have ever seen and believe me, I've seen you get pretty dirty. You become more of a person every day, which makes every day its own adventure.

Here's to next year's adventures.

Love,
Mom

Books? Wednesday?

2009-07-29T14:51:00.007-04:00

Yeah, I know. But I wanted to let you know that I have been reading a bit. At my mum's house back in early July I read Home Game by Michael Lewis and Bad Mother by Aylet Waldman in about 2 days (1 day a piece give or take). The Lewis was really light and I honestly can't remember that much about it except that they seemed to have a lot of babysitters and once his baby son got sick and was hospitalized. I was more interested in the fact that Lewis is married to Tabitha Soren, who was a VJ on MTV back when MTV played videos.

The Waldman book was a little more controversial and thus slightly more interesting. She got blasted a few years back for writing an article in which she said that she loved her husband more than her kids. Anyway, in this book of essays she talks about her decision to abort a fetus who potentially could be, uh, sick? Retarded? I can't remember, but there was the possibility of serious genetic problems. She also talks openly about her depression. So yeah. Good vacay books, but you don't need to fret about not having read them yet.

In the Adirondacks I obsessively read Alison Bechdel's The Essential Dykes To Watch Out For, which I didn't even like but for some reason couldn't stop reading. It's a compendium of almost all of Bechdel's comics from like the past twenty (more?) years so the characters are the same, but sort of change. Times change, but the main character Mo doesn't really change---she wears the same striped shirt all the time and she's always bemoaning The State of Things. She gets a little annoying after, um, ten strips. But I had to read it because of the soap operaness---the affairs, the articifial insemination, the girly crushes, the token lesbian man dude, etc. If you want to a really good Alison Bechdel book read Fun Home. That's 100% amazing.

While we were in Shelter Island I read like a crazy lady Beautiful Boy by David Sheff. I read it like crazy because I had to read it when Susie wasn't since it was her book and she was reading it. Now that I think about it, it must have been really annoying to her that I kept doing that. Sorry, Suze. At least I didn't lose her place or anything. BB is Sheff's account of his son's battle with drug addiction, specifically crystal meth. It's harrowing, but well written for about 200ish pages and then gets really old. There's no real ending for the book because you know, with addiction it can be up and down. The writing starts to get all weird too, much too detailed and too many choppy, for-effect sentences. Susie and I agreed it feels like Sheff couldn't end the book because he was too in love with his son. And if I had to read the name Nic one more time! Put a freaking k on it, dude.

Anyway, now I'm reading Three Freaking Cups of Tea because it's for school. It's actually not terrible, but I never feel that compelled to read it so it's pretty slow going, but it's all I'm allowed to read until I finish it.

Hey, you know what? With these books I got the mother, the father, and the son. Okay. Long post. Love ya. Bye, bye.

Well, Hello.

2009-07-27T14:46:00.004-04:00

Hey, Loves,
We're back. And we're not going anywhere except our usual NH and VT haunts for like a month! Good times were had all over the East Coast this last month, but it's nice to stay put. Yesterday we went to our local(ish) farmstand where we do a CSA and stocked up on all kinds of delish fruits and veggies because we'll actually be here to eat them.

The Bean was a rock star on vacay. She did make the other, smaller baby cry at least once a day because of her fondness for loudly screaming in his face, but other than than she was pretty sweet. She loved swimming in the bay and playing in/ eating sand. She slept really well and, as usual, waved constantly. Other than the lack of trips to the ice cream stand, it's starting to feel like summer. Today is hot and humid and we've been swimming a lot! Yay! Swimming=Summer. Not only did The Bean swim most days in the bay at Shelter Island, she has swum in the Lyme Pond, the Lebanon Municipal Pool, and of course the rec center indoor pool.

Today, I managed to go to a yoga class for the first time in months. Yay!!

Oh, that gas grill is amazing and we haven't blown ourselves up yet. So far, we've grilled corn on the cob, salmon, and chicken. Tonight I grilled two zucchinis, 1.5 tomatoes, and a bunch of garlic and added it to pasta. Grilling is my new kick along with, to N's poor meat-loving heart, tofu and lentils in the salad instead of cheese and cranberries. At least I'm not making Brussels sprouts, honey.

This is kinda a busy week. My parents are coming up on Thursday night, Uncle Brobly arrives Friday, and N's parents arrive on Saturday because as you might know faithful readers, on Sunday, August 2, The Bean will be 1!! She's gonna cake it up this weekend and might even get a present or two. We're having the small fam BBQ on Saturday and a crazy double monkey party with The Bean's best bud Z who is a whopping 1 day older and will sadly be moving to Cali next week. All kinds of things need to happen between now and then so wish me luck.

Peace.

Wow! It's Not Raining!

2009-07-15T13:41:00.003-04:00

It's a nice, slightly breezy, but sunny day here in the Upper Valley. We got back here yesterday and are staying put until The Bean's bedtime on Sunday when we're gonna drive to New London, CT, sleep in a motel, and then take an early ferry to Shelter Island to hang out with our bestest Brooklyn friendies for four days. Yay!! Beach! Babies! Beer!

After that, we're gonna stay here for a month because I'm not sure how many more places we can have The Bean sleep. She was great in the Adks, although she did get sick while we were there. Luckily, it was after we came back from the wedding so her grandparents weren't stuck with a sick kiddie. We ended up taking her to a clinic in Lake Placid and the PA who saw her thought it could be the start of another ear infection so she's back on the anti-bs this week. She's better on that front for sure, but she's also teething, which is not fun. I think it would be freaky to give birth to a baby with a full set of teeth, but now that we're in the heart of the teething, I think not having to deal with teething might outweigh the freakiness factor.

Our friends who are moving at the end of the month just dropped off their propane grill, which is exciting and a little scary as N and I aren't really grillers. Hopefully things will go better with this grill than with the last one....

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

2009-07-09T18:28:00.002-04:00

We had a brief stay in NH after our rollicking fun time in NYC. We're leaving tomorrow (although we're so not packed) at the First Nap Time to go to the Adirondacks. The Bean will be left once again on Saturday so N and I can wedding it up in VT. This time we're pros and have learned how fun it is not to be with your child. Just kidding, Bean. It breaks our hearts. Although some strong booze seems to ease the break just a little.

We'll be back in (constantly rainy) NH on Tuesday so have a good weekend.

This One (Girl) Goes To Eleven (Months)!

2009-07-02T20:24:00.002-04:00

Dear Bean,
Today you are 11 months old in New York City! What's so crazy about you being 11 months today is that in four short weeks you'll be one year old. Wow!

After you got up today your dad fed you breakfast---I'm not sure what, but it was probably tasty. Then you guys went for a walk in Central Park, which is the new morning routine while we're here. I took you yesterday to see the dogs, which you love. It's great seeing you get excited about things, which is mostly dogs and the occasional horse. We played a bit when you came back and then you took a nap and I went shopping with your grandma and when you got up your dad took you for a walk with his friend Ken. I believe there was a sandbox involved in your playground. For lunch your dad gave you 6! organic chicken nuggets. That seemed like a lot to me, but he said you got pretty hungry.

You were not happy when you woke up from your long afternoon nap, but eventually you snapped out of it and were mildly entertained by the two boys who had taken over the apartment. After they got tired of their DVD, we went out to another playground where you crawled around on wet concrete and chewed on a fence. Oh, you also got your first taste of junk food since I gave you some Pirate's Booty and other "healhty" puffy, cheesy things. I'm not surprised that you dug it.

It started raining and the boys got restless so we walked them to Amsterdam with their mom, went back to the apartment where you ate macaroni and cheese, yam, a little bit of Indian food, which you did not like, and some fruit. Then you got loopy tired drunk, which is funny because it's easy to make you laugh. Your grandma made you laugh a lot! Then the boys and their parents came back and you watched them for a bit before your dad gave you a bottle and put you to bed.

I feel a little sorry that I didn't spend so much time with you today, but also happy that you're such an amazing little girl. This has been a great month---you're happy and sleeping and eating up a storm and seem pretty close to walking.You're been a trooper with all the traveling.

I can't wait to see (and kiss and hug and laugh with) you tomorrow.
xo, mama

We'll Be Back

2009-06-26T13:23:00.002-04:00

But I don't think I'll be blogging while we're away. You gotta change things up, ya know! Have a great couple of weeks.

A Blog More Sexy Than This One?

2009-06-25T13:58:00.003-04:00

I know, it's hard to imagine isn't it? All the references to nap times and The Over Documentation of a baby's meals can really make you wanna....snooze. Wanna wake up? Brooklyn Mama's friend, Mr. Casual, has a rollicking new(ish) blog that Brooklyn Mama can't stop reading. Take a look! I promise the only mention of naps will be in the post-coital context.

Waiting For The Bean To Wake Up

2009-06-23T10:28:00.005-04:00

Cuz she'll be doing it pretty soon I imagine since it's 10:30 and she's been napping since 8:45! That's my girl! Remember when she didn't nap and I'd have to do everything in my power to get her to sleep? And then it would be like a 20-30 minute travesty. Now, she's on a napping schedule and generally each one is a bit over an hour. I'm a bit fearful since she took a long morning nap like this on Sunday and then refused to nap in the afternoon, which as you know is when mama naps. But yesterday she took a long morning snoozer and a really long snooze in the afternoon so who knows what's really going on.

Of course we're going to go and wreck havoc with this beautiful napping by going out of town for like 10 days! First stop is Field of Corn, NY on Saturday where we're going to go celebrate our good friend's imminent departure to SCRANTON, PA MED SCHOOL! Yay Alison! And no, I don't think we'll ever stop making Office jokes. On Sunday we'll be going to the Big Apple where we're going to feed The Bean real NY bagels and pizza and go to lots of movies since we'll have lots o' Beansitting available.

We're also (supposedly) going to leave Miss Bean overnight with the grandparents while we go back upstate to watch our friendies get married. Surviving that (me, not Bean she's in good hands) we'll retrieve the Bean, come back to NH for a few days before going over to the other Grandparents in the Adks and leaving her once again to go to another wedding....And she's up! More later.

So now it's eight hours later and The Bean is sleeping (hopefully) for the night because she did not have her afternoon nap. She was so tired on the bottle that she fell asleep without finishing it (it popped right out of her mouth) and she curled up to my...uh...bosom totally asleep. It was really sweet as she has not done that since she was teeny. She remained asleep while I transferred her to the crib and I didn't even have to put the pacifier in her mouth, which is huge. Now I'm off to have me a beer. It's been a day.

Hooray For Baby Daddies!

2009-06-19T14:05:00.007-04:00

Since the Internet will be going dark in a little while, The Bean and I would like to give a early shout-out to N and say, very originally, "Happy Father's Day!" Of course you're not surprised that N is one of the best baby daddies around. He has an excellent singing voice and is very through when it comes to cleaning The Bean's bottom. Plus, he plays excellent music for our early morning dance parties, knows how to 2-step, and always tries to find tasty things for Miss Bean to eat for breakfast. Also, The Bean would like it known that now that there's no teaching going on, her dad gets up with her in the early morning and lets mama sleep, which is the best thing (for mom) ever! The Bean's Daddy should get a medal for all the things he had to put together for her this past year: cribs (portable and stationary), car seats, plastic contraptions from China, not to mention figuring out strollers and tattoo guns.

In all seriousness, The Bean and I feel incredibly, amazingly, awesomely, and happily lucky to have N in our lives. We're going to miss him something terrible when he's geeking out in Boston for the first half of next week. Happy Father's Day, N! The Bean says no dance parties till you return!

N.B.

2009-06-17T08:58:00.003-04:00

This lady will not be invited to The Bean's first bday.
This is helpful.
Interesting twist.
The revolution will not be televised, but perhaps it will be twittered?
Can you really fall asleep while get a tattoo?

MONDAY MONDAY

2009-06-15T13:16:00.005-04:00

Hope y'all had a nice weekend. Ours was okay with long stretches of oh my god it's only 3:00? What are we going do to for the next three hours? Poor Miss Bean was diagnosed with an ear infection on Thursday afternoon but we had to stop the anti-bs after the Saturday night dose because she had a rash all over her chest and belly. Now, she's on a new med that will hopefully do the trick. She was more like herself today than she was all weekend.

Over here we live like we did back in high school with class periods. First period usually starts around 6:00 AM and includes breakfast and some play time and sometimes going outside to pick up the paper or a quick walk to the green and back. Then there's First Nap, which is usually a little before 9:00 AM. After that nap, which ends sometime around 10:00, it's second period. You need to do BIG, exciting things during second period to make Missy Bean happy. Today we went to Mommy and Me Yoga, which was more like Mom Chases The Bean and Tries To Stop Her From Eating the Six Week Old Baby Next to Us. After that we went to the bar with some of the moms for an early lunch. When we got back we had a few more small adventures (watching the cleaning woman vacuum, feeding our neighbor's fish, stealing an apple) and then it was Second Nap time, which Bklyn Mama loves since she got smart and stopped doing anything domestic and naps too. Second Nap Time normally starts between 1-1:30 but started a little early today perhaps due to the resumption of the anti-bs. Second Nap normally ends sometime between 2-2:30 and then we have third period, which is tricky. Today, The Bean woke up in the most fantastic mood she's been in post-nap all week. We had a great time in the house (going up the stairs 3! times, bathroom inspecting, snack time, etc) for about an hour and then she got REALLY REALLY BORED. Nothing was doing the trick---not even the remote control or mom's cell phone. Eventually we made our way outside and thank goodness the dogs next door were out because if they weren't I swear she would've chewed off my hand and poof---no more blogging. The dogs have no interest in the Bean anymore, but luckily she's content to watch them frolic and pee.

Bean's baby daddy came home in the midst of the dog watching and took Bean out for a more exciting second half of third period which included not buying a $40.00 brown shirt, not finding a carabeaner, and a short stop at the playground.

If you can make it through third period you're all good since dinner is about 4:45 and bedtime is around 6:00. And there's sometimes a bath and always a bottle before the hitting of the hay. I know she goes to bed early, but she gets really tired. You'd be tired too climbing the stairs 800 times a day.

Why I Hate Garrison Keillor

2009-06-11T14:20:00.006-04:00

Hard to believe now, but you know, there was time, back when I was in my (foolish and boozy) 20's, living in Seattle, when I found "A Prairie Home Companion" comforting. I'd listen while through Seattle's cute rainy neighborhoods, on route to brunch or at home, drinking my coffee or folding my laundry or some other mundane thing. I'd laugh at the ketchup commercials and smile at the English Major riffs. That Guy Noir....he'd just crack me up. When I moved back to Brooklyn I didn't listen to it as much--one, because I didn't drive anymore and probably because I sent my laundry out and also because it just didn't seem to be on when I was drinking coffee, etc. But when I did catch it, I was cool wid it.

One effect of living in NH is that I now HATE APHC. I find Garrison Keeler's voice smarmy and annoying and sometimes N has to physically restrain me from throwing things at the radio. Maybe I dislike the show because I live in the country rather than a metropolitan hot bed like Seattle or New York. Maybe I think Keeler is a bit of an asshole because of this. Maybe a white person living in white people land can only take so much whiteness in a given day. Or maybe I hate APHC because IT'S ALWAYS ON HERE.

We get three NPR stations in this area and on the weekends when we're all chillaxin' and in the mood for some good listening it's APHC on all 3 stations. It kind of makes ya wanna kill yourself. Or maybe just blast some gay rap.

Have yourselves a APHC-free weekend, kiddies. Do it for me, cuz you know I won't.

Back

2009-06-09T09:40:00.002-04:00

Well, I'm back online, but my back is still kind of killing me. It was getting better, but I think I did too much on Sunday because Monday morning was just awful. Of course Bean was extra needy too. Luckily, N was able to take over all yesterday afternoon and evening and he's on duty all day today and tomorrow. I can't wait till I'm healed because it really stinks. For the rest of my life I'm going to do back exercises every morning. I think I'm genetically destined for back issues, but I think a lot of it could be prevented.

I really miss being physical with Miss Bean, but feel incredibly lucky that N is home to take over. I'm hoping I'll be back (ha, ha) on track by Thurs/Fri.

Other than the bad back, we had a nice, busy weekend with family. The weather was great too. Now, it's rainy, which we're actually happy about since the landlords put down a ton of weed killer and fertilizer so the lawn has been off limits. I'm getting stir crazy and think I'll leave the house at some point today.

Oh. The Bean is getting her two front teeth, which makes her look even cuter. And, she's starting to stand. On her own.

Maybe You Should Give Me A Call This Weekend

2009-06-05T18:55:00.002-04:00

You know cuz I won't be ONLINE AGAIN TILL MONDAY!!!
Did I mentioned my back went out?
Bad back, can't go out and play in the sunshine we're supposed to be having, can't frolick with Beanie, can't go online!
Give a call. You know the number.

More Time Out Than In!!!

2009-06-02T18:38:00.005-04:00

Dear Bean,

Today you are ten months! This is crazy and amazing.

You didn't sleep great last night and you didn't nap well today, but in general you are sleeping MUCH BETTER. Your two naps are generally over an hour and although you cry out several times while sleeping, most nights you fall back asleep on your own.

This morning your dad said you were in a really good mood when he got you out of your crib. He gave you mini waffles, banana, and an egg yolk for breakfast. Your babysitter came while you having your morning nap, but you woke up too early from it and you were quite unhappy. You felt a little better when Erica gave you a bottle. She was planning on putting you in the jogging stroller and going for a run, but since your dad came home before me in the afternoon, I'm not sure if she did or how it went. It's exciting to think that there will be a time when I'll be able to ask you about your day! Erica fed you lunch of edamame, cubed squashed, and alphabet pasta with veggie meatballs.

You and I played for a bit in the early part of the afternoon. I tried to take some pictures and videos of you, but you kept going for my camera. After what happened to my last digital camera, the new one is totally off baby limits, which you didn't like. For your afternoon snack you had more edamame and squash as well as some bunny crackers, and another veggie meatball. You are such a good eater; it's so exciting to give you new foods although sometimes it's stressful. I feel like I always need to be at least two meals ahead of you, which is tough since you have 4 meals a day!

After your snack, I went swimming and you went to the daycare at the gym. The daycare is so good for us! I want you to be comfortable at the daycare so you won't get into hysterics when I leave. You've been a tad more whimpery the last few weeks, but I don't think you've ever cried. Normally, it doesn't take much to get you to perk up. When I came to get you last week, you barely acknowledged me since you were having such a good time playing/watching the big girls

After the gym we went home to...EAT PIZZA! All of us to celebrate your 10-monthiness! You've been eyeing pizza since you were six months old so we decided that 10 months was old enough for you to have your own slice. Your pizza, which I prepped and your dad executed, had organic sauce, mozzarella, Parmesan organic mushrooms, fresh oregano, and basil. The three of us ate dinner together on our sun porch, which was awesome. I told your dad we should try doing it at least once a week. It won't kill us to eat at 5:00 and I think it's good for you to eat with us at home. You seemed to enjoy your pizza quite a lot. The one issue is that the dough was a little tough for someone with only two teeth, but you managed it pretty well. You also ate some of the jarred peas and brown rice, but I bet soon enough you'll refuse nasty jarred veggies when there's pizza on your tray. For dessert you had a blueberries and Cheerios.

I tried to give you some of your milk in a sippy cup tonight since you're supposed to be off the bottle by the time you're one. Since you do love your bottles, your dad and I thought we'd start this weaning now. You did okay for a while, but you were drinking REALLY fast and then you seemed to get tired and frustrated and bored so I gave you most of the milk in the bottle. Tomorrow, we'll try giving you the milk in the sippy cup after your morning nap when you're not so sleepy.

Oh, Bean, this post is already so long and I haven't even mentioned all the things you're into! Or all the things you can do like Angry Gorilla face and all your excellent Banging of Things. Your favorite thing in the world right now it standing up. You need to hold onto something, but you can do it with one hand. And you've balanced by yourself for a few seconds here and there. In the past few weeks, you've become a really fast crawler. You love crawling down the hall away from us and you love love love crawling into the bathroom, pulling yourself over the tub. It seems like you could spend hours in the bathroom, which is why we call you Bathroom Inspector every time you crawl in there. Other things that amuse you: goggles, real keys, real cell phones, a stuffed yellow monkey I bought for your dad years ago, wallets, Styrofoam cups, the plastic container that contained the goggles, diaper packages, and a digital camera minus the battery and memory card that used to be mine.

It's crazy and amazing that ten months ago you were this little red swaddled thing and now you're you! YOU! I feel so very lucky about that. Happy 10 Months, Baby Girl!

Love,
BKLYN Mama

No TV Tuesdays!

2009-06-01T09:21:00.003-04:00

Sorry, for the silence, kids. This has nothing to do with the lack of posts, but for a few months now, N. and I have been celebrating "No TV Tuesdays", which involves us not watching any TV or DVDs on, you guessed it, Tuesdays. It's not like we watch a ton of shows---the only show I watch regularly is "The Office". N. watches that and "Lost". But even though we're not the kind of people who are into a ton of shows every season, we do get sucked in. Although strangely we have somehow avoided American Idol. We do watch ourselves some Net Flix although we often keep a DVD for a few weeks before we get around to viewing it. Unless it's "The Trailer Park Boys". That we watch stupid fast. NTT was born so we'd have one day during the week when we just don't turn on the tube. It's a good thing. Although it does seem like Tuesdays come up crazy fast around here.

As if this wasn't crazy enough, N. implemented The No Internet on the Weekends!!! rule two weekends ago. That's right. After a designated time on Friday, we don't go online till MONDAY!! Of course there are exceptions, like if we need to look up a movie time or get a phone number. But in those cases it's just that one thing--nothing more. It's been an interesting exercise. I feel myself going for the computer, but can't. It's been a wake up call to see when I'd go online, which is in the "dead time." You know after the baby has gone for a nap, but before I go make the bed or when N. and I are waiting for The Bean to get up from a nap. And after dinner. And during lunch. And before breakfast. I realize I tend to shop online more on the weekends since no one ever updates their blog and there's never any good email. So maybe this new rule will save us money. And maybe I'll just buy more on Mondays.

Hope y'all had a nice weekend. Did YOU go online?

I'm Way Too Drunk To Come Up With An Interesting Post Title

2009-05-20T20:03:00.006-04:00

Actually, I'm very sober since I didn't even finish my beer, but I needed something a little more attention grabbing than I Can't Come Up With An Interesting Post Title. You know, for the moms. Anyway, things be feeling kind of mellow up in our house. N. is done with the schooling till August, which is pretty crazy. Of course he has work to do. We've been trying to figure out a schedule that works for both of us. Yesterday was our first day of him being at the pretend office. He actually was in the closet that performs as his office for most of the day, but we all pretended he wasn't home from 9-4:30. It worked pretty well except for when The Bean and I were having too much fun and he had to poke his head in and reprimand us. You know how those 9 month olds like to blast the house music.

For some reason I found it more exhausting than the days when N was really gone. I guess cuz he was here, but wasn't. Speaking of exhausting Brooklyn Mama has gotten an insane amount of sleep lately. I finally slept through the night (before I was waking around 2 even if Baby Bean wasn't) on Monday. Despite sleeping from 9:30 PM-5:00 AM and then from 6:00 AM-8:00, I still napped at 9 and then from 1:30-2:30. Last night I slept for 9! hours.

Tomorrow is day #2 of Dad at the office. It should be a little less exhausting since we have plans at the awesomeness that is The Bounce House. Having plans is huge these days. Bean and I get bored. Yesterday afternoon I was so desperate for something to do that I actually put the Bean in her jogging stroller and went out jogging.

We're planning on June being a work month, traveling a bit in July, and then winding down in August. I'm trying to get my own work done. I'm in this very sticky part of this YA that I was going to send to my agent like 2 months ago. And I'm also writing an essay on leaving New York. How very interesting, you think. What, you think all I do is puree beets and zucchini in my free time? Speaking of beets and zucchini, what do we think the chances are that little Miss Bean is gonna like the asparagus I'm gonna give her for lunch tomorrow?

I'm Sorry To Have To Do This To You But

2009-05-17T09:21:00.003-04:00

I feel the need to update you on the rug sitch. On last week's episode we were anxiously awaiting the arrival of the ABC carpet rug. The colorful striped one. Well, it arrived, the baby napped, furniture was moved, and the rug was laid down. And I just couldn't get over the stripped colorfullness of it. But N. liked it and since he's the artiste in the family, I thought maybe I was just seeing things wrong. After three days of horrible, angsty striped stress, I snagged our neighbor/landlord for her opinion. And she agreed with me. Or rather, she was able to verbalize my angsty feelings into like words. The colorful striped rug was quite nice BUT IT CLASHED WITH ALL OUR FURNITURE!

Case closed. We moved all the furniture out, wrapped it up, and put down the new, smaller very brown rug, which N. curled up on in fetal position, crying that he, "just wanted the rug saga to be over with." I was happy with the brown rug maybe because ALL OUR FURNITURE IS BROWN. I've accepted that I'm going to have to vacuum the hell out of it for the next few months to stop the shedding and I'm alright with that. Totally off the topic, but The Bean is OBSESSED with the vacuum. I used it today and she just stared at it laughing. When I vaccumed her with it she went totally spastic with laughter, which was pretty awesome until she started licking it.

Anyway we still had to return the ABC rug, which meant me losing two days of my life opening a UPS account and trying to schedule a pickup and then cancelling the pick up because we didn't have a necessary Return Merchandise Number and it was the weekend and blah blah blah and then we finally got the stupid number and then I had to spent another three hours trying to deal with the UPS account until N. said he'd do it because he was afraid I was going to injure my computer. And then it looked like it was going to cost $130.00! so N. said he'd bring it to UPS, which he very kindly did only to discover it cost like $109.00, but whatever. I think we spent $200 sending rugs back and we still haven't gotten $ back from ABC but we will!

And since I know N. will never read this post because as he likes to say he "lives the rug saga" I'm going to tell everyone that he has a tail. Like a monkey's!