Uncommon Misconception

Taming Tiny Twinkle Toes

I took Caroline to her slightly-delayed one year appointment on Friday.  I was quite proud of myself, considering the food poisoning.

All in all, it was a good appointment.  She's doing just great.  But she's tiny.  In fact, she's lost weight since her tubes were put in.  Which raised an eyebrow or two.  Still, she eats well and everyone was pretty well willing to chalk it up to the repeated ear infections and/or genetics.

I guess, when I say small, I should point out that it's only in weight.  She's still tall and nicely-pated.  I've likely mentioned before that I thought it was impossible to be skinnier and taller than Hannah, and yet...

Since I'm still nursing, they recommended I stop with the whole milk, offering food first, then water, just to make sure she's not filling up on liquids and skimping on calories.  Ah, the worries of a one-year-old.

And then there's the toes.  Her sweet, sweet, funny little toes.  It turns out that while I may find her toe-top antics adorable, they are not in fact desirable.  Caroline has been a tippy-toes kind of gal since she very first managed to pull to a stand.  She used to stand on the tops of her toes - as in, where the nails are - even flipping back to that position once corrected.  The doctor was worried that this could lead to a shortened Achilles tendon in pretty short order.  The remedy: shoes.

No problem.  I have shoes out the wazzu.  You know, from back when I was a first time mom and shuddered at the thought of Hannah leaving the house without her feet appropriately attired in matching footware.  (Okay, I wasn't that bad. But I did buy a ton of shoes.  In my defense, Hannah was a winter baby, and then she walked at 10 months, so I had a good excuse.)

So far, Caroline wavers between being enamored of her newest item of apparel, and supremely irritated.  They do do the trick, though.

Caroline's big birthday party is tomorrow.  I realize it's more for us than her, but I'll be poised with my camera nonetheless.

Didja Miss Me?

Wow.  I haven't slacked off that badly in a while.  I think.  Okay, maybe I have.  But this time it was mostly intentional.  I had to focus my efforts on my family's recovery from All That Sucks.

By way of an update without boring you to tears:

• Ear tubes, thou art more lovely than a summer's day.  Caroline got her tubes on Friday.  Well, barely Friday, if you ask me.  We had to be at the hospital, which is downtown, at 5:00 am.  Given our new far-flung address, that meant waking at 3:45.  And, given Caroline's routine of waking and screaming every hour, which led to my sleeping with her on my chest in the recliner, meant practically no sleep for me.  Caroline did great.  She didn't even cry when they took her out of my arms.  She was confused and fitful afterward, but ate a big breakfast when we got home (at 8:20, folks), and by that evening she was calling me Mama and babbling up a storm.  Saturday found her saying "kitty" and "Hannah" and "night-night".  Unreal.  Her sleep still isn't great, but we'll be working on that over the next few nights because...
• Hannah is on her first parent-free vacation.  Nana took her back to her house for a trip of undetermined length.  We were all thrilled with how well she took the whole idea.  There were a few protestations about "can't you come with me?", but nothing like we expected.  I know she'll have a blast.  And Todd and I can spend some time mending and sleeping.  It also means we can finally let Caroline figure out how to sleep again. 
• Just to keep us on our toes, the woman we had secured to take over Hannah's daycare at the end of this month backed out.  She didn't get enough enrollment and is headed back in to the "real" world for employment.  I was pretty shocked.  And then pissed.  And finally, disgruntled by the astoundingly poor choices I've found thus far.  I should talk more about this in my next post.  Unless it makes me cry.  Which it might.
• Hosted a party for a friend who just became a rep for a home-based food company.  That necessitated the completion of my cabinet-painting project.  I'm pleased to report they look lovely.  And the party was fun, even though not too many people could make it.
• Speaking of parties, we rescheduled Caroline's so I don't feel too bad about depriving her of a blissfully unaware, never-to-be-remembered party.

And now... I shall watch the Olympics and SLEEP! (knock on wood)

Happy Birthday. Baby

I know you don't feel well, and this wasn't the celebration we'd planned, but cupcakes and noisemakers with a family of four ain't too bad either.  And I already know that you're the kind of girl who is happy to make the most of the least.

I cannot believe my sweet Caroline is one year old.  It would be impossible to sum it up here.  You are the light and smiles for our whole family.  We cannot wait to celebrate decades and decades more.

Kisses and snuggles to my mischief-making wonder girl,

Love, Mom

Play it Again, Sam

Caroline has her third double-ear infection.  She's gone back to only two wake-ups per night since starting the antibiotics, which is damn sight better than four, but still falls short of ideal.  At least she's still her adorable, easy-going self.  (Side note: It really is hard to diagnose such a happy baby.  She's never had a fever or anything approaching the attitude Hannah regularly sported just as a matter of course.  Still - much better to have this problem than any myriad of others.)

My eyes are the visible proof that things are slipping around here, most notably: sleep, hygiene, and patience.  Within fifteen minutes of waking up this morning Hannah asked me, "Mom, why are you so angry?"

Gah.

Those Rascally Eyes

Scene: my car on the way home from a trial run at our prospective daycare replacement.

Hannah: [strapped into car seat watching an episode of "Bob the Builder"] Momma, my eyes keep blinking.  And I don't want them to 'cause I'm tryin' to watch my show.

Me: [thinking she may have a bit of dry eye or allergies] Honey, why don't you try shutting them for a minute.  Sometimes our eyes get dry and we need to keep them shut to get them some more tears.

[a few minutes later]

Me: Hannah, how are your eyes doing?

[no response]

I glanced back and found her sound asleep.  Blinking should come with a warning label.

Bubble

Her first word.

Last night, I was reading Clifford Counts Bubbles to Caroline when she said her first real word, aside from a loosely-applied "Dada" and a mumbly "Mama" directed at no one in particular.

The book, as you may have astutely gathered from the title, repeats the word "bubble" approximately 43,002 times.  On the second to the last page I thought I heard her say it.  So I repeated it.  She said it again.  And three more times before I decided to let her go to sleep.

I just can't get over how fast this all goes.

Don't Mind Me... Just Flipping Out a Bit is All.

Today was most definitely a Monday.  And someone somewhere who has a sick sense of humor decided to throw me not one, but two additional balls to juggle.  And I gotta say, I'm running short a few arms.  So I'm gonna bitch for a minute.  Because, as I understand it, that's the basic premise behind blogging.

1. Apparently, my pastor is gone.  I don't know if she left the church voluntarily or under some sort of pressure.  I do know that there had been lots of tension (over what, I honestly could never figure out), and she had considered leaving before.  But now, she's gone.  There's no trace of  her on the church's Web site and I got an e-mail today about painting the new parsonage (which I didn't know we had) to welcome the new pastor(s) (whom I've never heard of).

Obviously, I haven't been able to attend service is a couple of months.  Caroline's naps and Todd's open houses have conspired against me.  I'm disturbed that she's gone and even more disturbed that I don't know why.  I really felt like I had found a home there, and now, I don't know.

I guess the whole thing just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.  I used to feel like it was a place of acceptance, but now it feels like a place where they run folks off for disagreeing.

I understand, though, that it was likely a moot point for the next few years anyway, since the cabin is too far away to continue going there.

Still.  Gah.

2.  This is the real zinger.

I went to pick up Hannah this afternoon from Mrs. Barbara's Academy of Stay Out of Our Hair.  I love, love, love Mrs. Barbara.  She's run a daycare that really functions as more of a preschool out of her house for something like 16 years now.  She loves Hannah and treats her like a true individual.  She's flexible, kind, patient, and affordable.   We're willing to drive a lengthy commute to let Hannah continue going there after the move.

Today, when I picked her up, Mrs. Barbara waited for another parent to leave and then told me she needed to talk.  Again, that sick feeling rose up in my belly.  For a second I thought she was going to say Hannah had done something terrible and wouldn't be allowed back.  I quickly dismissed the thought, but got even more worried when she prefaced her comments by saying she'd waited to talk to me because of all the stress we've been under.

The short of it is this: She's closing the school.  At the end of August.  I have two months to move Hannah and then find her another caregiver. 

I cried.  Even though I completely understand her motivation.  They're selling their home and moving in with her Mother-in-law to help her renovate the family home and take care of her.  She's been doing daycare for a long time and though she loves it, she's tired and needs a break.

What I need is some wine. 

Gah!  And gah!  And GAHHHHHHH!

Diaper Middle Ground

About a week ago, on an emergency shopping trip specifically to purchase diapers (something that never happened with my first kid, but happens all the time with Caroline), I saw Natural Choice diapers* next to the name brand I usually buy.

My earlier quandary and inquiries about whether or not to switch to cloth diapers was quashed in the subsequent sell-our-belongings-move-to-the-country decision, so when I saw these "green" diapers on the shelf, I was intrigued.  My grocery store breaks down unit pricing on their shelf label, so glanced to see how much more expensive these were when compared to my usuals.  Guess what?  They're cheaper.

So I bought a package thinking it couldn't hurt.  If they sucked, I'd just go back to my standard diapers.

But here's what's great: They don't suck!  In fact, aside from being less fabric-like, they actually function very, very well.  I believe they're actually better at concealing poop smell, too - which could be seen as a negative, though in my book, is a nice plus.  They work overnight, and we haven't had a single leakage issue.

I don't know exactly how much better these are for the environment, but any step in the right direction is a good thing.  So I do believe I'll be buying these from here on out.

*I couldn't find a link directly to the company, so I thought this would be the next-best.

I Love Companies Like This

A friend sent me a link to this company the other day.  I really love reading about products and companies like this - companies built around a simple, straightforward idea, usually inspired by necessity.  Plus, it looks smart and financially feasible for pretty much anyone.

Safety Tat... just in case.

Teef!

DSC_0362, originally uploaded by uncommonjulia.

Caroline FINALLY* cut her first teeth.  Four of them.  Within a few days of one another.  The first two cut through the day after my birthday and then the top two yesterday.  Thankfully, she seems to be a happier kid for it, too.

*I say "finally" because my pediatricians have been telling me she's teething since she was three months old.  I finally quit saying "any day now!" about a month ago.