Category Archives: Motherhood

Down

I woke up feeling icky and got worse. A gastrointestinal thing. Husband stayed home and I slept most of the day. Claire refuses to take milk from anyone else but me and only in a bottle still. So this afternoon there were storms of tantrums, because I wasn’t available. I guess we need to get serious about the switch to sippy cups and eliminate the bottles (she drinks water out of sippy cups). My reason for hesitating until now has been: she won’t eat yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese, or ice cream, so milk is her only dairy and significant source of calcium. She rarely eats meat of any kind and refuses eggs and tofu; thus milk is her protein source. She is still underweight for her age. She eats a lot of fruit, veggies, and bread and cereals, but won’t eat pasta. She is an active child, always walking, climbing, dancing, etc. So I’ve continued to give her a bottle and not restrict the amount. I recently weighed her (last week), and in two months she only gained 12 ounces. She is still shy of 19 pounds. (And believe me, I’m getting real tired of all the comments on how small she is. How ironic that in about 10 years she will feel tremendous pressure to weigh less and may obsess about extra weight!)

I hope I feel better tomorrow. It’s no fun for any of us when I’m sick.

Art Every Day Month – Day 11

This wasn’t the best day for creativity. I spent the morning at the doctor’s office waiting (much too long) to get a TB skin test. Claire and I will start a parent-participation preschool class next week, and because I’ll be in contact with other kids, they need to know I won’t visit a plague upon them. The rest of the morning and much of the afternoon were spent with my friend and her little girl, and I cooked as well. So my inspiration today was what Claire was wearing — teal pants with little pears and hearts and cherries on them. I’m not particularly happy with the result, but the effort and process have equal value.

pears - art every day month 08 - day 11

Just Today

In just this day, Claire added more words: hammer, pliers, wrench (from her chunky puzzle), happy, crying, climbing, sad. I’m actually awed. I don’t know what is “normal” or “average” for a 14-month-old in terms of language development (articulation and comprehension), but I’m just impressed at how each day she increases her understanding of the world.

This Child Of Mine

I’m raising a little sponge. Claire has more words now. What’s so fun is she is game to attempt to say anything. If you ask her, “Can you say [insert word]?” she will try it. It’s uncanny how well she pronounces words too. Here are her latest acquisitions:

achoo, back, beans, book, boom, bounce, bubbles, bunny, cracker, cuddle, dolly, down, Edgar (her elephant), empty, fork, front, full, gate, jump, mouse, Obama, over, people, pineapple, puzzle, spoon, tick tock, toast, toy, under, up, water, wheel

She also has started calling her little friend (whom she sees most often) by her first name, except she shortened it from a three-syllable name to one: Fee (Sofia).

And she cuddles her stuffed animals and snuggles into our embrace with intense affection. She’s a bright joyful little beam of energy in our lives. How I adore this kid!

contemplative lunch

Art Every Day Month – Day 2

My effort today is less art and more craft. (Not that knitting isn’t art, but a simple dishcloth is pushing the concept; now a lace shawl or something akin — that is art.) However, this is what I created today. Recently Husband purchased a knife sharpening kit and sharpened all our very dull blades. This has made cooking much easier and more fun; however, we learned the hard way that we cannot wash the knives with my hand-knitted dishcloths. One of them was shred to bits, and so this one replaces it.

art every day month 08 - day 2 - pink dishcloth

I spent a lovely afternoon visiting with a relative — a second cousin on my father’s side of the family. She was a fascinating person to talk to and before I realized it, I’d been there nearly four hours. I learned a couple years ago that I had relatives in the Bay Area, but without a premise for contact I didn’t pursue it, and I was busy, so the time wasn’t right. My parents recent visit catalyzed the connection.

Claire had a rough day today. I felt her gums, and she has an upper left molar coming through, plus the rest of her gums are very puffy. She has new words, though: all done, bird, cracker, excuse me (coo-mee), gate mouse (mess), pear. She mimicks what she hears really well.

It Was Fun

Claire’s still a little young to understand Halloween, hence the lack of a fancy costume this year. Among the many animals she likes is the owl, so she was happy to wear this outfit. We went to Westgate Mall where the majority of stores participated in trick-or-treating. The place was hopping! Next year we may go out into the neighborhood, but since it’s raining here today, this seemed like the best plan. She doesn’t have much interest in sweets generally, though we did give her little bits of gummy bear, and she ate them. Her favorite prize was the large brown leaf she found on the floor, which she clutched in her right hand as we made our rounds.

halloween 08

I Have Been Remiss

This has been a busy week, in part because we welcomed a new little person into the world. Our friends, M&K, gave birth to a beautiful daughter on Tuesday, October 28. (M&K are Claire’s godparents/emergency backup parents.) Because I don’t know how public they want this information to be, I withhold particulars at this time. But she is healthy and beautiful, and in about a year she and Claire will be active playmates.

And to all: Happy Halloween!

massive carved pumpkin

Massive pumpkin at Uesugi Farms

In Case You Wonder

Besides playing with my lovely amazing daughter every day, I do other stuff too, such as clean the very gunky oven and making the whole stove sparkle like new. Here is evidence of my efforts:

ooo shiny

I committed to doing Art Every Day Month in November. However, I’ve no idea what I’ll do, or if I’ll do much at all. I’ve never felt busier in my life, nor more content.

A Busy Brain

Claire understands more every day and demonstrates it in many ways. Here are some examples.

  • The other day we were getting ready to leave, and I was searching for her sippy cup. As I looked around I said, “Where’s your cup? We need it to go bye-bye.” I continued to scan the living room muttering that I had just seen it somewhere. Then I turned around, and Claire was toddling back from the kitchen with the cup in her hands, and she walked over to the diaper bag and laid it on the top.
  • When I ask her if she needs a dry or clean diaper, sometimes she nods yes. When I tell her we need to go change her diaper, she walks over to the stairs and waits for me to open the gate.
  • Claire will stand at her bookcase and pull books off the shelves one after another as she searches for the book she wants read to her. Sometimes I’ve suggested a book (Let’s read Trucks!) and she finds a book about trucks and hands it to me.
  • I started asking her to say “please” when she wants a book re-read to her. A couple of times she did say it, but then she decided to resist. She’ll shake her head, say “No,” and emphatically make the sign for more. If I persist in telling her to say please, she gets mad and upset. I’ve decided that when it comes to saying please, I’ll start with modeling the behavior for her. I also don’t want to get into a fight with her about saying please at this age, especially over reading books. And while I think she understands the concept of “no” to some degree, I also think she gets confused. There are times she says no when she clearly means yes.
  • When she hears a plane (or helicopter), she declares Pane! Pane! When she hears the rumble of a loud truck engine, she says Ca! Ca! (her word for truck). Also, when she sees a plane in the sky, even when it’s very small because it’s far away, she becomes excited and shouts her word for it and babbles. Sometimes she mistakes a bird in flight for a plane as well, but she’s starting to make the distinction. The other day she pointed to a black bird and said crow (though the “r” sounds like “w” still).

She’s also added new words: bag, bear, bow-wow, bubbles, bus, crow, foot, neigh, ooo-ooo (monkey), pop, poop, quack, sneeze, tummy, tunnel.

i want this one

I want this one!