Category Archives: Humor

Forward and Backward

Bean is working very hard to crawl. In her attempts to raise her bottom and get to her hands and knees, she does a good job traveling backward, which frustrates her, because it puts distance between her and the object she’s trying to reach.

working hard to crawl

But sometimes she gets to where she wants to go. She’s fascinated by zippers and very determined to figure out how they work.

fascinating!

In my eagerness to introduce solids, I gave Bean some Stage 1 (well-ground) chicken (commercially prepared baby food). It seems she may have an intolerance at this point. She’s had five poops today and a rash has begun on her bottom. This is similar to when we attempted to transition from hypo-allergenic to regular formula in December. However, she had only one day’s exposure, so I caught it quickly. The doctor recommended to hold off on meat proteins for a couple more months. She also said she often wonders about what’s in the jars; even though the ingredients say, for example, chicken and chicken broth, she wonders if there might be preservatives in there that can irritate. So until the reaction clears up, we’re sticking with peas and brown rice, oat cereal, rice cereal, carrots (not a lot), applesauce, and bananas. Then I’ll continue to introduce one new vegetable at a time and over a period of four days to see. I really don’t want to deal with a lot of food sensivities and allergies, but unfortunately I might just need to accept this possibility; Husband’s got family members who are allergic to pork, beef, tomatoes, yeast, oranges, milk (and some simply have a lactose intolerance). Still, I’m sure we’ll find something to feed her!

we do feed her, honest!

Okay, I Admit It

I’ll face reality. A Mindful Life has become a mommy blog. Actually, it’s more of a diary of my experience; I certainly don’t pontificate on motherhood. As much as I’d like to insist otherwise, the regularity of posts about my new role, and the exclusivity of the topic, are evidence no denial can refute. Occasionally I’ll insert a post about something else, but they rarely garner any comments, and the posts aren’t frequent enough to dilute the mommy flavor. Perhaps someday I’ll write more about other topics, but this is my life now. Bean is my life. There. I’ve confessed, I’ve admitted. I don’t know about you, but I feel better. And now:

hmm... "c" is for cat

Hmm… “C” is for Cat

Liberation (And Other Tidbits)

I’m not sure how cogent this post will be, because I got up at 5:45 a.m. and, unlike the past three months, have not had any pockets of time in which to doze (as I used to get when holding Bean).

This morning when Bean woke I gave her a big bottle and played with her for nearly two hours, until she could barely stay awake. Then I rocked her for ten minutes and she fell asleep. As soon as I laid her down, she woke and started to cry. However, they weren’t the shocked You’re changing everything you can’t do that don’t you love me anymore? sobs of indignation. This time it was a protest, kind of a whiney cry, and she did this for only 20 minutes before dropping into a deep sleep for and hour and 20 minutes. During that time I took a long hot shower (luxury!) and called my mother to gab a half hour.

When she woke, Bean was hungry. So I offered her rice cereal and applesauce (trying some spoonfuls mixed and some separately). I managed to give her one tablespoon of cereal and probably almost equal of applesauce, after which she also drank 4 ounces of milk.

We ran errands as a family (tell me, does anyone else hate humanity whenever they enter a Costco?) and once we returned home, she was ready for lunch and another nap. I rocked her again and put her down awake. She cried meagerly for only five minutes. She slept for 50 minutes. Later in the afternoon she had one more 20 minute catnap, and she was in bed and asleep by 7:15.

She also enjoyed sharing another apple with me, and at dinner she ate a few spoons of applesauce as well.

How do ya like them apples?

apple snack

—
Two other notes. When Aunt LP was here, we took many walks at Central Park. One afternoon we heard the keening sound of bagpipes. I love me some bagpipes. We located the source, a young man (teenager?) practicing by the duck pond. I took Bean out of the stroller, and she listened with interest. When he paused we asked how long he’d been playing, and he said six months. He was really good for having just begun. So Bean got her first exposure to live music from another culture.

Also, she and I went to the Santa Clara farmer’s market for the first time today. While there, we met a man with a Saint Bernard. I’d forgotten how huge those dogs are. She was friendly, and while I patted her, the dog sniffed Bean and Bean smiled. What’s funny about this is that I asked the owner the dog’s name, and the answer was Bean. So Bean and Bean met. I didn’t have my camera but perhaps someday we’ll all meet up again at the market and I’ll take a snap.

Instead of a photo of Bean and Bean, here’s a photo of Bean wearing silly hair. It’s a privilege of parenthood.

my parents do silly things to my hair

Tomorrow we’ll have our friends over for dinner. I’ve made shortcakes and Husband cut up strawberries for strawberry shortcake as dessert. We’ll be grilling steak and veggies too. But right now I need to get horizontal and unconscious or I’ll be good for nothing tomorrow.

These Are Silly

And therefore I must share them.

I have a rock garden. Last week three of them died.
–Richard Diran

I know a lot about cars. I can look at a car’s headlights and tell you exactly which way it’s coming.
–Mitch Hedberg

I shot an arrow into the air, and it stuck.
–Graffito

It’s been a lovely, warm sunny day. This afternoon I got outside and trimmed the lemon and orange trees in the back yard so we have a little more room. The branches were encroaching the patio and the fruits were moldering on the ground. Unfortunately, we cannot enjoy the fruit because the exterminator last year dumped the remaining poison out under the trees. The poison is not water-soluble (thus probably has not been washed away in winter rains), so we just don’t want to take any chances. But they look pretty and the blooms smell nice (but not the rotting fruit. Rotting citrus is sharp and nasty.)

How’s your day been?

Ick of Sick

Starting Sunday we again attempted to help our wee one nap in the crib. Let’s just say we’ve failed spectacularly. You might even call it an Epic Fail.

Yesterday she began sneezing and coughing a lot. At first I thought it was from the snot from so much crying, and that her throat was dry and hoarse from crying. But she awoke this morning much snottier, coughing a lot, and she slept less deeply last night than usual. She’s very tired and subdued.

So until she feels better, I’ll continue to hold her for naps.

EpicFail02
funny pictures
Enter the ICHC online Poker Cats Contest!

Guess Who…

rolled over from her back to tummy this afternoon?

Twice!

For months Bean’s been going tummy to back easily because when I put her on her stomach for “tummy time,” she gets bored and/or tired and/or frustrated, and flips herself over. It’s the other direction she hadn’t figured out. The past few days I’ve been playing a game — laying her on a large towel and rolling her side to side to help her experience the process. This afternoon, I was lying on the floor playing with her, when she oh-so-casually just rolled herself over!

She immediately began playing with a toy, then leaned a little too far over, and rolled onto her back and began sobbing. I can only conclude she cried because she had not intended to do that. I comforted her and played with her while she was on her back, and a few minutes later she simply rolled back to her tummy.

I know it’s a small thing, and if you don’t have a child you might think it’s no big deal. But to me, watching this little person grow, it’s a Big Accomplishment.

It’s probably an accomplishment on par with my being able to do this! (For a fat, out-of-shape mother of “advanced maternal age,” I think it’s pretty impressive.) 😉

you mean, like this?

Five Things In My Fridge

Eden tagged me, and I haven’t played a meme in awhile, and so why not?

A Texan’s (and yes, we still consider ourselves as such) diet must include some of this:

5thingsinmyfridge1

Good with carrots and other veggies:

5thingsinmyfridge2

This stuff really is better than boullion. It’s not as good as stock from scratch, but it serves well:

5thingsinmyfridge3

Husband eats the salsa like it’s manna from heaven, and I drink the V8 (an easy way to get some veggies):

5thingsinmyfridge4

Standard fruit supply:

5thingsinmyfridge5

Now it’s my turn to tag five people. How about:
Gerry
Shirley
Donna
Marta
Fran

…and anyone else who wants to play (leave a comment on the post).

Blustery Wet

On this stormy Friday, we actually went out. Bean and I went on a play date at a Las Madres member’s home. Talking with other women was a tonic for me, and Bean enjoyed watching the other babies. I also met someone who’s child was born the day before Bean at the same hospital. A happy coincidence.

I really liked going to the mom’s house rather than meet at the park. (Since the weather is perfect here from April to October, the groups are typically scheduled to meet at a park. Except if you don’t arrive all at the same time, you might miss each other.) So maybe some mothers will host at their homes, and we’ll make some friends.

Speaking of friends, this evening is the 40+ Mothers Night Out. I intend to go, despite the icky weather.

For giggles, please visit Do’s and Don’ts With Babies. Just don’t be drinking a beverage while you look at it. I had an unfortunate encounter with my V8 as I did. Thanks to Tiffany for sending the link!

Management Skills

I’ve always enjoyed Dave Barry’s humor. I also think it’s important to take politics with a dash of laughter, and especially to be able to laugh at one’s own politics.

The Democrats seem to be basically nicer people, but they have demonstrated time and again that they have the management skills of celery.

–Dave Barry

A Little Snack

Toe jam, anyone? 😉 Bean impresses us with her flexibility. People pay good money to learn how to bend this way.

We still aren’t sure what color her eyes will become. Sometimes they look hazel, sometimes gray, sometimes a little blue, and there is still some brown in them.

Notice the dark blob in the background? That’s Stella, also sprawled on her back, except she’s too fat and old to get her rear paw into her mouth.

I spend a lot of time on the floor these days. Our Music Together large family percussion set arrived. Lots of noise and fun! When I’m not on the floor, I’m often in the glider in her bedroom, holding her as she sleeps.

people pay good money to do this!

Never Getting Divorced

We have a bank account with the Bank That Owns Everything. An added wrinkle is that this account was opened in Texas. When we moved here, we were told that California is Special, and we’d need to close the Texas account and open a new one in this state if we wanted to use the ATM to make deposits — except that we’d lose the long-time customer privileges that we had with the current account. The only other hitch to keeping the Texas account is that any time we need to make a change with the account, we are transferred a zillion times from representative to representative until we are connected with the appropriate person in Texas.

I called the Bank ahead of time to ask what I needed to do to change my name on the account from Kathryn Petro-Harper to Kathryn P. Harper and was told a visit to a branch bank with an I.D. would be enough. So I went in and said, “I want the account to reflect my name as it is legally on my Social Security card and driver’s license. I want to drop the hyphen and use an initial instead of my full middle name.” I was told I had to come back with a copy of my marriage license. I said the marriage license was irrelevant and actually showed me listed by my maiden name, and iterated that I had several forms of identification that sufficed, and that I’d been told by their staff this would be enough. The Customer Service Drone repeatedly said, “You need to bring the marriage certificate. These aren’t legal documents.”

So I had to turn into the customer I dislike: the one who won’t go away, take a lame excuse for an answer, who requests to speak to a manager because she smells bullshit and doesn’t want to get any on her. I said I had arranged for a babysitter and that I was not leaving until my request was fulfilled. I didn’t get rude, but the situation became a little tense.

I walked out having negotiated the following (through the California Customer Service Person who spoke with a Texas Customer Service Person and wouldn’t let me speak with him directly): they would drop the hyphen but said they had to keep Petro on the account legally, though I could have our checks reprinted using the initial. Never mind the fact that when I was put on the account in 2004, I was unmarried and signed on the account as Kathryn M. Petro using my driver’s license as proof of identification. In 2005, they did need a copy of the marriage license to drop the M. and make it Petro-Harper (as did Social Security and CA DMV but once those records are amended this should be enough). So what changed in two years? (Please don’t attempt to answer that.)

Anyhow, I now need to do this or something like it with all my financial accounts, medical records, library cards, online shopping accounts, the IRS, our will and trust, friends, family, etc. (I’m fortunate that family and friends won’t require identification before accepting this news.) So I called Husband and told him we were never going to divorce, because this is the second time I’ve gone through the process and never will again. He laughed. Oh, foolish me, that I didn’t foresee this change of heart and mind once I became a mother!

So again, to reiterate: I am no longer using Petro-Harper as my surname. Now it is, simply, Harper. A fine name it is!