So OK, I admit it. I was the one who taugh Olive to say Shit. Unintentionally of course, but she parroted it back to me nonetheless. Nothing makes you feel like a good parent quite like your toddler swearing. She's been quite feisty lately; her temper is starting to rear its ugly head. We haven't had too many instances of it, but she is quickly catching onto the "go limp" technique when you want her to stand up or put on her coat. I guess that comes with the territory. I heard someone say that trying to dress a child was like trying to stuff an octopus in a net bag without any of the arms getting out. I get that now.
This last weekend she was in serious "Daddy Girl" mode, which was frustrating. We were at the grocery store and she kept pushing my hands off the cart and saying, "No, Daddy turn!" and freaking out if Marc left her sight for a nano second. I know, I can't let myself get offended by a toddler, but it's like, "What up? What did I do to you?" Marc swears that when I'm not around she asks for me all the time. I guess I'll take his word for it. I need to learn to chill out and just roll with things a little bit better.
Well, we got a nice respite from the cold on Saturday. It was 70 degrees here and it was blissful. We played in the backyard, moved the compost pile, dug up a dead tree to make room for the sour cherry tree I ordered. It's all very exciting. We went to the Y and went swimming in the morning, and then walked a loop around Lake Montebello. In the mean time, I am trying to keep the gardening obesssion under control for a few more weeks.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Damn Elmo
So, we've now been watcing Elmo in Grouchland, which Marc bought her on DVD. Its' a one hour movie, but it amazingly holds her attention. The gist ofthe story is that Elmo's blanket gets thrown in Oscar's garbage can and ends up in Grouchland, which the blanket must be rescued from. Hilarious adventures ensue. Anyway, the unforseen side effect now is that Olive freaks out whenever we throw anything in the kitchen trash can, because its going "to Grouchland."
We had a snowday Monday, Yay! the big nor'easter blew through with 6" of snow. It was kind of pretty really; It was nice to have an impromptu three day weekend. I have been going through seed catalogs and fawning over my seedlets. They are so cute.
So, my cat homing beacon is obviously still working, because I got a cat in Charles village Sunday night. Kate called me to say that there was a little cat scratching at her back door. What I theorize happened is that the woman downstairs from Kate, who moved out last week, left her behind, and when the cleaning crew came through on saurday, they just tossed her out. She is in very good shape, obviously hadn't been on the street very long. She's 5 months old and black. I got her shots and all (to the tune of $143.00) and now she's at our house. She's cute and all, but I always forget how much of a pain kittens are until I have them in the house. They get into EVERYTHING. Olive loves her. I think Kristin from daycare might take her. She told me to bring her by with Olive tomorrow to spend the day at her house and see how she does. I hope that doesn't stress her out too much; the newness of a new house, plus a few toddlers thrown in for good measure. The recipe for feline relaxation. But, realistically, I think our house is just too small for four cats. Three is one thing, four is exponentially worse. Besides, Pingu is so fat he almost counts as two cats anyway. I'm almost afraid to take him to the vet because I'm afraid of what the vet is going to say to me. Oh well, I'm just glad I could help the Keeten. I've been calling her Neko (Japanese for Cat) I picked her up Sunday night just as it started snowing. She might not have made it if she was out there for two nights in that storm. People are so shitty. They just take no responsibility for anything and wait for someone else to come in and do something about their problems. Arghgh.
I am really tired of the cold. More later, M
We had a snowday Monday, Yay! the big nor'easter blew through with 6" of snow. It was kind of pretty really; It was nice to have an impromptu three day weekend. I have been going through seed catalogs and fawning over my seedlets. They are so cute.
So, my cat homing beacon is obviously still working, because I got a cat in Charles village Sunday night. Kate called me to say that there was a little cat scratching at her back door. What I theorize happened is that the woman downstairs from Kate, who moved out last week, left her behind, and when the cleaning crew came through on saurday, they just tossed her out. She is in very good shape, obviously hadn't been on the street very long. She's 5 months old and black. I got her shots and all (to the tune of $143.00) and now she's at our house. She's cute and all, but I always forget how much of a pain kittens are until I have them in the house. They get into EVERYTHING. Olive loves her. I think Kristin from daycare might take her. She told me to bring her by with Olive tomorrow to spend the day at her house and see how she does. I hope that doesn't stress her out too much; the newness of a new house, plus a few toddlers thrown in for good measure. The recipe for feline relaxation. But, realistically, I think our house is just too small for four cats. Three is one thing, four is exponentially worse. Besides, Pingu is so fat he almost counts as two cats anyway. I'm almost afraid to take him to the vet because I'm afraid of what the vet is going to say to me. Oh well, I'm just glad I could help the Keeten. I've been calling her Neko (Japanese for Cat) I picked her up Sunday night just as it started snowing. She might not have made it if she was out there for two nights in that storm. People are so shitty. They just take no responsibility for anything and wait for someone else to come in and do something about their problems. Arghgh.
I am really tired of the cold. More later, M
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
So now she has learned about 3/4 of the Alphabet and is picking up numbers very quickly. She's got some key phrases down now, like, "I go play" "Here you go" and, of course, "I no want to." She had her first melty go-limp tantrum last night when I took her off the back of the dining room chair she was climbing. Marc and I were both looking at her and going, "Huh." But, in the process of flailing around she whacked her head on the floor, so maybe she learned something.
Olive's great grandmother Bess turned 99 yesterday; pretty amazing. I was at Target looking for birthday cards for her and was profoundly taken by just how stupid they are. What kind of card do you get for someone who lived through WWI? I opted for the generic cute dachsund card. Of course, i mailed it late and forgot about the President's Day holiday, so it will be a few days late, but it's the thought that counts, right?
Olive comes over every morning and looks at my tomato plant seedlings growing on the table and says "SEEDS!" Is it too early to have her start learning the latin taxonomic names? Hmmm...
Olive's great grandmother Bess turned 99 yesterday; pretty amazing. I was at Target looking for birthday cards for her and was profoundly taken by just how stupid they are. What kind of card do you get for someone who lived through WWI? I opted for the generic cute dachsund card. Of course, i mailed it late and forgot about the President's Day holiday, so it will be a few days late, but it's the thought that counts, right?
Olive comes over every morning and looks at my tomato plant seedlings growing on the table and says "SEEDS!" Is it too early to have her start learning the latin taxonomic names? Hmmm...
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Olives and Grape Jello
So, in the last few weeks we have been busy weathering a nasty stomach flu. I realized that the worst thing about a baby with a stomach bug is that they don't tell you when they are about to throw up. It's like carrying around your own personal vomit hand grenade. Fine one minute, them BOOM. Let's just say I was doign lots of laundry and cleaning with bleach. Marc and I both got it too, but not nearly as bad.
Other than that, O is doing really well. Friday night she said "soccer!" pointing to a soccer ball at our friends' house, and Marc and I were stunned because neither of us had taught her that or ever heard it before. She's loving her letter magnets on the refrigerator... marc has actually taught her to say all of the vowels.
She's getting a lot more fun; I guess that doesn't sound very good; I guess I should say that I am learning to have a lot more fun with her. Marc is still her go-to guy for most things... she is very protective of him and will get pissed if she sees us hugging. I have to admit, I was a little hurt that she saw him as "comfort". But we talked about it and I realized it's just that he spends a lot of time with her.. I end up cooking or doing other stuff while we're at home, so I've been trying to make more of an effort to hang out and play with her and it seems to be working. I've had some genuine hugs in the last few days which have made it all worth it. I also realized how stupid it is to let ones self be offended by the behavior of a 19 month old. I'm trying to get her to say "I love you" but I haven't heard it yet. I figure that pretty much has to be about the highest moment you can achieve in life. I am looking forward to it.
I know I have to update pictures. I promise I will soon... I got some cute ones of Olive in her snowsuit when we were in Ithaca... She looks a little like Randy from a Christmas Story.
More later, M
Other than that, O is doing really well. Friday night she said "soccer!" pointing to a soccer ball at our friends' house, and Marc and I were stunned because neither of us had taught her that or ever heard it before. She's loving her letter magnets on the refrigerator... marc has actually taught her to say all of the vowels.
She's getting a lot more fun; I guess that doesn't sound very good; I guess I should say that I am learning to have a lot more fun with her. Marc is still her go-to guy for most things... she is very protective of him and will get pissed if she sees us hugging. I have to admit, I was a little hurt that she saw him as "comfort". But we talked about it and I realized it's just that he spends a lot of time with her.. I end up cooking or doing other stuff while we're at home, so I've been trying to make more of an effort to hang out and play with her and it seems to be working. I've had some genuine hugs in the last few days which have made it all worth it. I also realized how stupid it is to let ones self be offended by the behavior of a 19 month old. I'm trying to get her to say "I love you" but I haven't heard it yet. I figure that pretty much has to be about the highest moment you can achieve in life. I am looking forward to it.
I know I have to update pictures. I promise I will soon... I got some cute ones of Olive in her snowsuit when we were in Ithaca... She looks a little like Randy from a Christmas Story.
More later, M
Friday, December 12, 2008
Catch Up
Wow. Has it really been that long since I posted anything? I am feeling really guilty. Things have been so busy this fall with work. Marc has been working with me painting at the Franciscan Monastery in Washington DC. We are just about finished with it, so things are settling down a bit. The hours were crazy; Marc was leaving at 5:30 am and not getting home until 7pm or so… he’d be exhausted, and it was all we could do to get her in a bath and in bed by 7:30 or 8:00. I think seeing her so little every day was really hard on Marc. It was kind of depressing.
But like I said, things are calmer now, so that’s good. Olive is doing remarkably well. Let’s see… she is walking now, which is fantastic. I was starting to wonder if she ever would; but I think now she was just thinking about it. The pediatrician asked how often she falls when she walks; I was kind of surprised, because she doesn’t fall at all. She’s not one of these kids who charges forward with a zombie-like stagger. She’s much more methodical about it. I think she just thinks more.
I need to post some Halloween pictures. I am at work now, screwing around, so I’ll have to post the pictures later. She went as a bumble bee this year… very cute. She caught on real quick to the whole candy game too. That didn’t escape her one little bit.
She is also talking like crazy. Her first official sentence was “No Biting!” at daycare… that’s another whole story. But she’s pretty self assertive and that problem for the time being has seemed to go away.
He second sentence that we heard a few nights ago was “I go poop.” Ahh yes, one for the record books. She’s gonna love that when she’s sixteen.
We stopped counting words once we got to 60. She also knows a lot more words than we think, even if she doesn’t say them. If you tell her to go put her cup on the table, she’ll do it, although she’s never said “table” as far as I know.
She freaked me out a few weeks ago. We let the cat out and she wanted to go out too. I told her no, and she started to cry and whine. I went back into the kitchen, and she wandered into the living room and I assumed she’d just moved on to something else. A minute or so later, I see her and she’s dragging my purse to the door. She goes into my purse, grabs my keys, and starts putting keys into the keyhole of the door and trying to figure out how to open it. This is when I knew I was in trouble. She’s so damn smart it’s scary. The logic train involved in that situation is pretty complex, but she knew exactly what to do. It blew me away.
Anyway, I promise to post pictures soon. More later, M
But like I said, things are calmer now, so that’s good. Olive is doing remarkably well. Let’s see… she is walking now, which is fantastic. I was starting to wonder if she ever would; but I think now she was just thinking about it. The pediatrician asked how often she falls when she walks; I was kind of surprised, because she doesn’t fall at all. She’s not one of these kids who charges forward with a zombie-like stagger. She’s much more methodical about it. I think she just thinks more.
I need to post some Halloween pictures. I am at work now, screwing around, so I’ll have to post the pictures later. She went as a bumble bee this year… very cute. She caught on real quick to the whole candy game too. That didn’t escape her one little bit.
She is also talking like crazy. Her first official sentence was “No Biting!” at daycare… that’s another whole story. But she’s pretty self assertive and that problem for the time being has seemed to go away.
He second sentence that we heard a few nights ago was “I go poop.” Ahh yes, one for the record books. She’s gonna love that when she’s sixteen.
We stopped counting words once we got to 60. She also knows a lot more words than we think, even if she doesn’t say them. If you tell her to go put her cup on the table, she’ll do it, although she’s never said “table” as far as I know.
She freaked me out a few weeks ago. We let the cat out and she wanted to go out too. I told her no, and she started to cry and whine. I went back into the kitchen, and she wandered into the living room and I assumed she’d just moved on to something else. A minute or so later, I see her and she’s dragging my purse to the door. She goes into my purse, grabs my keys, and starts putting keys into the keyhole of the door and trying to figure out how to open it. This is when I knew I was in trouble. She’s so damn smart it’s scary. The logic train involved in that situation is pretty complex, but she knew exactly what to do. It blew me away.
Anyway, I promise to post pictures soon. More later, M
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
A week at the Beach
So, we just got back from a week in Emerald Isle, North Carolina. We went with Sue, George, John and Mary Tyler. It was a fantastic week. A bit of a long drive though... we broke it up into two days each way. Olive does fine for awhile, but after about four hours has pretty much had it with the car seat entirely and focuses her energies on screaming. After awhile you are ready to swerve into oncoming traffic, but then, thank god, you remember that there are graham crackers.
Olive loved the beach. She played in teh sand and went swimming; I dug her a hole near the water line so it would fill with water and make her own little pool to kick around in. When she wasn't eating the sand herself, she decided to share the love and add a handful or two to my tea. We went to the North Carolina Aquarium, which she also enjoyed tremedously. I was trying to get her to say "Echinoderm" the whole time.
The kid is getting so smart so fast it's really scary. Maybe it's just because I spent so much time with her last week that I'm more aware of it. So, now she can say "FEESH" and she knows what it is. She can blow kisses, and, as of today, figured out that if you blow on the pinwheel, it will spin. Kristen said she figured out the toy car today, pulling it back and then letting it go, all by herself. They were also playing Ker Plunk today (that game where you put sticks through the holes in a clear cylinder and try to keep marbles from falling through) and she picked up a stick and fed it through the tiny holes in the side. Now, that impressed me, because those are tiny. And, while we were on vacation, she crawled over to the bedroom door, climbed up against the wall, reached for the doorknob and tried to turn it. That freaked me out.
She is still not officially walking yet... she will walk if we hold her hands; Even if you hold just one, she does pretty well. I think she could probably stand up on her own, but hasn't really figured out that she can yet. She's really into rocking out now; she loves the rocking horse, the rocking chair, etc. etc. It's pretty amazing.
Things with me have been pretty good; I took some time this week to reassess my priorities. I have been so caught up with my work stuff that I have kind of distanced myself from my parenting responsibilities. Marc brought this to my attention. Um, yeah. Anyway, after feeling like the shittiest parent ever for a day or so, I decided to just go with it and try to do better rather than beating myself up about things. It's really hard though; you feel so insecure about being a "good" parent, and then when you get criticized or something stupid happens, you just beat yourself up even more for being a shitty parent. It's just hard to shake off. Insecurity breeds more insecurity, not progress. After a few days, I just decided to clean slate the whole thing. When I'm home, I am trying to focus more on her and less on trying to get a million things done in the 45 free minutes I have. But, that also means that if I don't get dinner made, someone else is going to have to do it. It's not even stuff around the house as it is work stuff. With my own little side business, there's always something to do, something to write up, something to file or organize. Marc's suggestion was that I do something for me instead; go to Yoga one night a week, something, so that my work isn't my home hobby. Otherwise, it just never ends. I am looking into taking a class at Clayworks this September; I think it will get me motivated. I want to make some ceramic forms for mosaics. I thin it will be good for me; Maybe he's right. It will give me another focus and I think it will be fun.
So, there we are. I will post a picture of Olive in the hermit crab photo op at the aquarium. More later, M
Olive loved the beach. She played in teh sand and went swimming; I dug her a hole near the water line so it would fill with water and make her own little pool to kick around in. When she wasn't eating the sand herself, she decided to share the love and add a handful or two to my tea. We went to the North Carolina Aquarium, which she also enjoyed tremedously. I was trying to get her to say "Echinoderm" the whole time.
The kid is getting so smart so fast it's really scary. Maybe it's just because I spent so much time with her last week that I'm more aware of it. So, now she can say "FEESH" and she knows what it is. She can blow kisses, and, as of today, figured out that if you blow on the pinwheel, it will spin. Kristen said she figured out the toy car today, pulling it back and then letting it go, all by herself. They were also playing Ker Plunk today (that game where you put sticks through the holes in a clear cylinder and try to keep marbles from falling through) and she picked up a stick and fed it through the tiny holes in the side. Now, that impressed me, because those are tiny. And, while we were on vacation, she crawled over to the bedroom door, climbed up against the wall, reached for the doorknob and tried to turn it. That freaked me out.
She is still not officially walking yet... she will walk if we hold her hands; Even if you hold just one, she does pretty well. I think she could probably stand up on her own, but hasn't really figured out that she can yet. She's really into rocking out now; she loves the rocking horse, the rocking chair, etc. etc. It's pretty amazing.
Things with me have been pretty good; I took some time this week to reassess my priorities. I have been so caught up with my work stuff that I have kind of distanced myself from my parenting responsibilities. Marc brought this to my attention. Um, yeah. Anyway, after feeling like the shittiest parent ever for a day or so, I decided to just go with it and try to do better rather than beating myself up about things. It's really hard though; you feel so insecure about being a "good" parent, and then when you get criticized or something stupid happens, you just beat yourself up even more for being a shitty parent. It's just hard to shake off. Insecurity breeds more insecurity, not progress. After a few days, I just decided to clean slate the whole thing. When I'm home, I am trying to focus more on her and less on trying to get a million things done in the 45 free minutes I have. But, that also means that if I don't get dinner made, someone else is going to have to do it. It's not even stuff around the house as it is work stuff. With my own little side business, there's always something to do, something to write up, something to file or organize. Marc's suggestion was that I do something for me instead; go to Yoga one night a week, something, so that my work isn't my home hobby. Otherwise, it just never ends. I am looking into taking a class at Clayworks this September; I think it will get me motivated. I want to make some ceramic forms for mosaics. I thin it will be good for me; Maybe he's right. It will give me another focus and I think it will be fun.
So, there we are. I will post a picture of Olive in the hermit crab photo op at the aquarium. More later, M
Monday, July 14, 2008
4th of July Weekend
We went to Ithaca for the 4th of July weekend. Olive was in a horrible mood and the car ride up there was less than pleasant. I figured she was just teething, so we kept her pumped with Tylenol and it kept her fever down. Once we got back to Baltimore, she went back to Daycare wednesday and Kristen pointed out to me that she thought she might have an ear infection; Yep. I completely missed any symptoms, I just thought she was teething and cranky. So, now she's been to Patient First and gotten antibiotics and seems to be feeling much better. Marc, however, came down with something awful on Friday; he said he knew he was running a fever when he went to get into his black car that had been sitting in the sun all day and he said it felt good inside because he'd been so cold all day. He had a 103 fever and barely made it out of the house all weekend. So, now I am starting to suspect that that may have in fact been what Bean had, in addition to the ear infection. Let me tell you, it was a rough couple of nights. It made me think, "Oh, so this is how people end up getting divorced."
(Relax, everything is fine. No divorce court proceedings here unless I:
a. Bring home a random stray dog
b. Leave the mop bucket on the landing at the top of the basement stairs
c. Decide that that 200 year old farmhouse fixer-upper is just too good to pass up. )
So, everyone seems to be doing better. It was nice to see the family in Ithaca too; We made the (Great) Grandmother Circuit on sunday and saw everyone. My HIgh School 15 year reunion was also that weekend. Very, very weird. Everyone has babies around the same age. Creepy. There are actually some people I knew from high school whom I found out live right down the street with their two year old. Smaltimore.
Anyway, that's what we're up to. Hopefully everyone will stay healthy for awhile. Ciao!
(Relax, everything is fine. No divorce court proceedings here unless I:
a. Bring home a random stray dog
b. Leave the mop bucket on the landing at the top of the basement stairs
c. Decide that that 200 year old farmhouse fixer-upper is just too good to pass up. )
So, everyone seems to be doing better. It was nice to see the family in Ithaca too; We made the (Great) Grandmother Circuit on sunday and saw everyone. My HIgh School 15 year reunion was also that weekend. Very, very weird. Everyone has babies around the same age. Creepy. There are actually some people I knew from high school whom I found out live right down the street with their two year old. Smaltimore.
Anyway, that's what we're up to. Hopefully everyone will stay healthy for awhile. Ciao!
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