Scenes from our backyard

For the second Sunday in a row, we spent the whole day outside yesterday. The weather was great: A little chilly in the shade but toasty in the sun. Last Sunday, we put a big blanket in the grass and brought out a few of Anna's toys. She and I played there while Kevin did some yardwork. Occasionally, we'd practice walking in the grass. She loves the feel of grass under her toes.

Yesterday, the grass was still too damp from Saturday's storms for the big blanket, so we instead camped out mostly on the patio. We ate all three of our meals from the grill (Kevin's famous, "campfire breakfast tacos" for breakfast; hamburgers for lunch and grilled quesadillas for dinner). I enjoyed catching up on my bird-watching. I saw my usual cast of characters: Sparrows, Blue Jays, Cardinals, Woodpeckers and all the squirrels but also found a couple of Carolina Wrens (hanging out near our blooming Carolina Jasmine, by the way..."going to Carolina in their little bird minds"), and a whole flock of cowbirds. I love our birds and squirrels.

Dead-Beat Blogger

Ugh. I know, I know. I've gone away again. Guess I got a taste of success with my pre-pregnancy jeans fitting and suddenly felt too big for my britches (so to speak). Several blogtastic things have happened but I'm too lazy to form sentences again. Here are some bullet points to catch you up to date:

New signs that Anna knows and uses:

• Ball
• Bath
• Water

Interesting Tidbits (interest is in the eye of the beholder):

• I went to a party (for awesome Kate and Willy--love them!) at the home of a super cool blogger whose blog I read. I debated, the whole day of the party, whether or not to tell her that I read her blog. I decided to play it cool and, if it came up in conversation, great...if not, no big deal. What did Jenny do? The second she introduced herself, as we were walking into her home, I gushed, "Oh my god...I totally read your blog!". Gah...I carried a watermelon? (movie reference)

• I went to Galveston for a girls' weekend last weekend and had a baby-free day. The weather was fabulous and I had a grand time.
  

• I've been in need of a good book to read for awhile. Reading and re-reading magazines every night before bed just wasn't cutting it anymore. I was dreading buying a book and having to dip into the "entertainment" fund. Suddenly a light bulb went off in my head yesterday: LIBRARY, dumb ass. So, Anna and I trekked to our neighborhood branch of Houston Public Library and got ourselves a library card and two books (one for me and one for her). Score!

And, to reward you for checking and re-checking my blog every 30 minutes to see if I've posted (Hi R.A.A.!) and also my silly drivel, an early Valentine for you:

Gold Star Day!

In a fit of insanity, and I suppose in an effort to squelch any notions of a positive body image that I've might have been having lately, I decided to try on a couple of pairs of my pre-pregnancy jeans. I've tried them on numerous times, over the past 11 months or so. Up until now, the score has been as follows:

P-P J 18


J.J. 0

Today, as I half-heartedly pulled them over my hips (over! my! hips!) they went on. Then, I cautiously tried to button them. Shazam! Both pairs buttoned! And I could BREATHE (a priority for me)! Granted, there is a tad more muffin top than I used to sport when I wore these back in the day, but this is a huge breakthrough. Funny thing is, I don't feel like I've been losing much weight lately. I haven't been trying very hard, that's for sure. Maybe my body has finally realized that there isn't a twee fetus inside of me anymore and that it's safe to go on and shrink back to normal size.

I suppose it's about time for me to get pregnant again...

The Face of Addiction

When any of the blogs that I read suddenly go dead, I always assume the worst: death, illness, major computer malfunction. In case you were wondering where I've been? I've been right here. Doing nothing. I'm sure that there have been things that I could write about, but I haven't been inspired. My mojo has left me.

In lieu of elegant prose, I've opted to indulge your Anna Claire habit. Here's a recent video of her signing. I was taunting her with her beloved Cheetos. What she's saying in sign language is that she wants to "eat more Cheetos".



*She does know how to sign "more" but, when Cheetos are involved, she often gets too frustrated to sign "more". That's why she violently signs "EAT!!!" and makes the "Cheee" sound. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Elmo Throws Up

There's been an ad of the local Houston tv stations for some Sesame Street On Ice kind of show or something. It's called, "Elmo Grows Up" but every stinkin' time I hear that ad, I think they're saying, "Elmo Throws Up". Definitely don't wanna be in the front row for that show.

White Trash Personified

I've spoken of my child's affinity to "Cheetos" a few times on this blog. Well, this "affinity" has turned into a full-scale obsession. She wakes up the morning asking to eat Cheetos; we have to keep the can hidden because if she sees it, she'll begin asking for them and refuses everything else that we attempt to feed her. Needless to say, we're running low on Cheetos around here. I decided to scour the grocery store for a healthier alternative to this Gerber crap that we're feeding her. I found a good, organic, gluton and wheat-free alternative. These are a hit as well (although, I've put them in the old, Gerber "Cheetos" can to fool her--because deception is a good parenting skill).

So, now that you know about my child's love for Cheetos, I'll delight you with the details of our cats' intense love of Cheetos, Pringles and tortilla chips (with salsa, preferably). Ever since they were tiny, Banjo and Simon have LOVED chips. Back in the day, when I could eat whatever I wanted, I ate Pringles occasionally. These cats knew the sound of the Pringles can opening and would come running to sit on the couch next to me and beg for tiny pieces of my chips (to which I obliged them). We don't eat as many chips around here as we used to so the cats don't get to indulge their weakness for junk food as often as they'd like. Today, as I was giving Anna some of the new "Cheetos" after (and only after) she'd polished off her strawberries and Cherrios, Banjo jumped up on the table and realized what Anna was eating. He began begging for some and she enjoyed teasing and taunting him.

Child Prodigy

About 3pm today, Anna was getting a little cranky and emotional, which is normal for this time of day. She dropped her afternoon nap months ago, so we usually just try to power through the afternoon--going to run errands, to the park--whatever will keep her halfway content and non-fussy. So, today as she was crying into my leg because she fell down, she said, "Night, night". I asked her, "You wanna go night, night?". She replied with, "Night, night" and grabbed my hand like she wanted to walk around the house. I decided to go with it and see what would happen. She led me to her bedroom, saying, "Night, night" the whole time. I put her in her bed and she grabbed her favorite lamb and started sucking her thumb. I walked out of her room and shut the door, sure that I was about to hear screaming and crying. I heard not a peep from her. Fifteen minutes later, I go in to check and she's sound asleep. This whole communication thing is a total trip. Child prodigy indeed.

A different world

A portion of an email that one of the moms from the kids' group that we belong to sent out today:

My nanny needs a highchair for her home and one for
her nanny's house to use as a time-out device.

Did you catch that? Her nanny has a nanny. I find that I have less and less in common with these people.

More drivel than you ever imagined

Finally, a decent day around here! We just got back from the park. The weather was so cold and rainy all last week, so we were cooped up in the house. It was a rough week. Today, however, the weather was decent and we enjoyed our time outside.

Anna's latest words:

• book
• Cheetos
• milk

It's funny because it seemed like for the first 11 months of her life, there were small milestones and such, but nothing really ground-breaking. A few weeks ago though, it's as if everything is beginning to click with her. Suddenly she can sign to us and communicate her needs and wants (usually those needs and wants involve CHEETOS. All day, every day).

She's also begun to reject being rocked to sleep. Recently, in a fit of frustration, while trying to wrestle a wiggly, overly-tired baby into the rocker to rock her into submission, I just said, "Ok then. Let's go night-night". Anna said, "Night night?" and I said, "Yes, let's just go night night". We then proceeded to go around the house, saying "Night night" to all of the cats and then I put her in her bed, turned off the light and closed the door. She cried for a little while and then silence. Since then, I've been doing this for naps as well as bedtime. Every day is different as far as how much she protests. Sometimes she cries for a few minutes and sometimes not even a whimper. Either way, it's fabulous for all of us. She is no longer dictating when she goes to bed. I wouldn't trade those nights of rocking her until she went to sleep in my arms, but this is a lot easier for all of us.

As a follow-up to the continuing adventures of Bike Man and Bandana Dog: I recently discovered what Bike Man is doing, as he slowly pedals through the neighborhood, with Bandana Dog following behind. He's going to all of the homes that have dogs in the yard and giving them treats over the fence. I've noticed that all of the neighborhood dogs are anxiously awaiting their morning treat from Bike Man, in the morning when we go to the park. Funny.

People talk about "pregnancy brain" wherein a pregnant woman is forgetful and absent-minded. "Pregnancy brain" also follows a mom into her child's first year, apparently. I'm way more forgetful than I used to be. Also, I'm sort of scary-dingy sometimes too. Case in point: The other night, Kevin was holding Anna, before bedtime. She's had a mild ear infection, and her ear seemed to be bothering her a little. We decided to give her a dose of infant Tylenol to help her sleep. I went and got the Tylenol, had sucked up the appropriate dosage into the dropper and was talking to Kevin, awaiting the perfect opportunity to squirt the medicine in Anna's mouth. As I'm standing there, Kevin yawned really big and I made a move to squirt the Tylenol in his open mouth. I was not even kidding. I saw an open target and almost went for it. Seriously.