Hey Drivel, Drivel The Kitty and The Fiddle
(The Cat Just Hurled In My Shoe)

Scenes from our backyard

2008-02-18T07:09:00.004-06:00

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

2008-02-13T19:38:00.004-06:00

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!

2008-02-07T11:00:00.001-06:00

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

2008-02-05T14:03:00.000-06:00

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

2008-01-30T11:59:00.000-06:00

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

2008-01-29T15:48:00.000-06:00

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

2008-01-28T15:37:00.001-06:00

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

2008-01-28T14:28:00.001-06:00

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

2008-01-28T10:30:00.000-06:00

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.

Birthday Party Postmortem

2008-01-24T07:33:00.001-06:00

Duck Cakes
Originally uploaded by veggiejj

Anna Claire celebrated her birthday on Sunday, surrounded by her favorite people in the whole world! Naturally, the cakes had ducks on them; we ate fajitas and all the fixin's and half an hour before 25 people were to show up at my house, our toilets backed up and our front yard filled with sewage. There's just nothing like watching your daughter open birthday presents, while City of Houston public works employees stomp around in the muck, dragging hoses back and forth in front of the window.

Amazingly enough, a good time was still had by all and Anna was a trooper. She really enjoyed her cake. Her sugar rush took the form of maniacal laughter that began about an hour after her duck cake binge.

Happy Birthday

2008-01-22T07:00:00.000-06:00

Flop, Floppy Dog; Flop, Floppy Dog (Hoagies and Grinders)

2008-01-19T07:59:00.001-06:00

Santa brought Anna this giant, floppy dog for Christmas. He's clearly a hit with everyone.

Friday News

2008-01-18T07:28:00.001-06:00

Well, hello there! I'm finally back. Had a little hitch in my giddy-up, blog-wise this week, so I wasn't able to post. Naturally 843 blog-worthy things happened during that time (none of which I can think of right now though). Here's a small round up of new developments:

Anna signed to me the other day. We've been using sign language with her from early-on but were never sure if it was sinking in or not. The other day, Anna crawled up to me and signed "eat" and "more" and then she said something that sounded like "cheese". "Eat more cheese" (because really, when isn't that a good idea?). So, I put her in her high chair and gave her a few little cubes of cheese. She sort of half-heartedly ate them. Looking back on it, I think that she was referring to her baby Cheetos, that she's really grown fond of. They're probably not the healthiest thing that I could be feeding her, and I feel a bit like Britney when I offer my child Cheetos, but she loves them. (And, you should know that I don't feed my child actual Cheetos. These are little puffy snacks, made by Gerber, that we call Cheetos) If she sees the can of them on the counter, she feverishly points at it and says, "DAT! DAT! DAT!". The good thing about these snacks is that it's a good way to practice her signing. She will do all sorts of tricks to get more Cheetos.

Still not walking yet. She can certainly get where she wants to go either by crawling or cruising. Also, she occasionally lets go of whatever she's hanging on to, so we know that she can do it, she just doesn't want to yet.

New words:
Night Night
Budget
Busy Bee
Molly

We're gearing up for a busy weekend around here. We've got a couple of celebrations going on (least of which is the biggie that's happening on Sunday). Just as we're getting back to normal after the holidays, another round of sugar! and presents! and spoiling! Life is good.

Budget Conscious

2008-01-12T19:26:00.000-06:00

As I've eluded to in other posts, there has been much talk about budgets and budgeting around our house lately. As a result, Anna has a new favorite word. Listen closely:

Shopping Cart

2008-01-10T19:34:00.000-06:00

Conceptual Challenge

2008-01-10T10:52:00.001-06:00

When you're teaching an almost one year old to self-feed, it's challenging to explain why she's being encouraged to put a piece of banana, coated with crushed Cherrios (it's easier to pick up a slimy banana, if it's coated in something not slimy) in her mouth, but vehemently advised against putting into her mouth a piece of cat poo, coated in cat litter. The world is a confusing place.

Bullet Train

2008-01-09T13:53:00.000-06:00

...because it's just easier to throw some bullet point drivel at you than to actually formulate complete sentences with subject/verb agreement and proper punctuation (writing the dialog between Kevin and I from that last post killed me and I'm sure that it's ripe with incorrect punctuation and bad grammar).

I made a good meatloaf for dinner last night. Yes, I used the words "good" and "meatloaf" in close proximity to one another. And, I might add, there was no ketchup involved.
On a good day, I can see my waist again. I've missed her. She was on sabbatical for about 18 months (but was doing noble work, nurturing a human life and whatnot).
I obsessively refresh all of my favorite blogs and curse their authors for not updating, while my blog sits untouched.
One of my friends had her heart broken recently and it really stinks.
Anna has developed a love of the following foods: carrots (cooked by yours truly); dried fruit, specifically apricots (hello, poop!); cheese; bananas.
The cats, however, are most excited that Anna does not like Gerber meat sticks (can't say that I blame her) and promptly tosses them onto the floor.
My daughter purrs. She makes a total cat-purr noise and we don't know if it's just a random vocalization, or if she is, in fact, being raised by a band of militant tabby cats.
Another thing I like about bullets? I don't have to come up with a conclusion. I've always been bad at wrapping up my thoughts into a neat little package.

Pictures of the babychild, you ask? I haven't taken any good ones lately. I'll try to snap a few in the coming days.

Letterman ain't got nothin' on us

2008-01-08T08:20:00.000-06:00

A snippet of the comedy which is a way of life at our house:

After my shower last night, I decided to try a sample of some lotion that I'd received after a recent purchase at L'Occitane. As I slathered the Honey and Lemon Delightful cream on my parched legs (going from heater to air conditioner back and forth does a number on your skin, whod'vethunkit?), I noted that the scent was not quite what I expected--rather unpleasant and overpowering, which is uncharacteristic of L'Occitane products. "Oh well," I thought. "I'm just going to bed".

A few minutes later, as I'm laying in bed, watching David Letterman, Kevin enters the room. As soon as he opens the bedroom door, he stops dead in his tracks.

"Sniff, sniff," he smelled loudly.
"What's the matter?" I ask.
"I smell cat pee" Kevin exclaimed.
"Oh no!" I bark as we both glare at the only cat who can get beyond the baby gate and into our bedroom--Molly.
I start to sniff and don't smell a thing. Then, I remember the offensive lotion that I have caked on my legs.
"Oh! I'll bet it's my lotion...here take a whiff," as I pull back the covers and offer up one of my offensive legs to Kevin to smell.
"Yep...that's it", said Kevin
"What is that stuff?" he sputtered, gasping for air. "Feral: by Calvin Klein?"

Amore

2008-01-07T10:14:00.000-06:00

A list of my current loves:

The fact that the doorknob to our patio is perpetually oily, due to Kevin's use of our new BBQ pit (and thus, his liberal use of olive oil to keep the grill tidy)
The Kings of Convenience. Good music to have on during the day
A tad embarrassed to admit, but am loving this Spring-like weather. (Embarrassed because I'm usually the first to bitch about the fact that we never have season-appropriate weather during the Fall/Winter months)
That my birds are back at my feeders, along with the regular lot of squirrels
This new budget. It feels so good to be in control and to be working toward a goal.
My house, de-cluttered and un-Christmas-y
The fact that Molly has learned to jump the baby gate and now sleeps with us at night. There's also just something nice about walking into our bedroom during the day and seeing a pretty little cat, curled up in a pretty little ball and sleeping soundly on our fluffy white duvet.
Menu-planning and eating healthfully
Going to bed each night, already looking forward to my morning cup(s) of coffee
Planning to get some new plants for the patio in the coming weeks
The new back porch lights that Kevin installed over the weekend
My friends
My new pedicure from Nordstrom's spa (thank you, Ashley--see above)
That I scored 14 jars of baby food for free from another Heights Kids mom

Resolutions

2008-01-03T10:04:00.001-06:00

Kevin and I have made some pretty lofty budgetary resolutions for 2008. Mainly just making some smarter, pretty simple changes to the way that we spend money. If it all goes as planned, we could be setting ourselves up for a very comfortable future for our little family. It feels good to scale back a bit and try harder.

As for my personal resolutions, I'm inspired to get healthier. I don't plan to join a gym (see above) or visit a nutritionist (again, see above) because I already know a lot about healthful eating and exercise, it's just a matter of putting it all into practice. What I'm currently doing seems to be working, so I just have to soldier on.

Anna's main resolution is to walk on her own. She's close to it already, so I'm encouraging her to come up with a back up resolution--one that's more of a challenge like say, learning another language, in addition to polishing her English. I think that Japanese would be a charming second language for a toddler.

The cats' resolutions are pretty simple. Eat more, exercise less and log more time sleeping on the Giant Floppy Dog.

Banjo illustrates the beauty of resolutions

Holiday Hangover

2008-01-02T11:21:00.000-06:00

It was such a fun month of Holiday festivities. The excitement, the indulgences, but now I'm ecstatic that it's all over. Funny huh? The first person in the world to get all amped up about the approaching Christmas season is the first to ditch the decor and the good tidings. I've been keeping a running tally of Holiday accounting in my head and here's what I have so far:

Ounces of cream cheese personally consumed by each person in my family: roughly 32oz
Number of wayward Frasier Fur needles still lingering around my house: 4,521. Special awards for the most interesting places to find pine needles go to (1). inside of Anna's diaper, found while changing her one day and (2). Inside of a bag of shredded cheddar cheese.
Number of cat vomit puddles that I cleaned up, due to Wynonna Judd's affinity for eating and then vomiting artificial garlands: 17
Number of new children's songs that are permanently circulating through my brain, due to Anna's new toy collection: 3
Number of weeks in a row that our trash can is overflowing on the curb on trash day, due to an excess of packaging and discarded wrapping paper: 2
Hours of sleep that I'm deficient, due to Holiday parties, traveling and house guests: 72
Additional hours that Anna now stays awake before going to bed, due to all of the hullabaloo of the season: at least 2 hours, on a good night. Grrrr.

If it sounds like I'm complaining, I'm not. I'm just so happy that life can get back to normal now.

Metamorphosis

2007-12-27T08:17:00.000-06:00

It happens every year about this time. The calendar says that it's December 2?--whatever date, after the 25th--but I feel like it must be April or something. I start to get a serious "Spring Cleaning" bug. I think it's just the excessiveness of the Holiday decor. All of the glitter, tinsel and ribbons. The clutter where I usually don't allow clutter. The decking of the halls with boughs of whatever. Whatever it is, I feel the intense need to streamline my home. It's the only time of year that I feel sort of Asian-design-inspired. Clean lines. Minimalist.

Even though we, here in the South, are just finally experiencing cooler weather this time of year, I itch to yank down my heavy drapes, in deep, Autumnal colors (that have, sadly, been up since Sept. 1, in a desperate attempt to pretend that we have a season called "Fall" here in Texas) and put up my flowy, light linen curtains that billow and blow in the breeze when the windows are open. I want plants everywhere. Large, minimalist cacti but also flowering African violets. It's this time of year that I crave a beach house, or, more accurately, the opportunity to just decorate a beach house. I want distressed, white furniture. Seagrass rugs. Pale blue, linen furniture and seashells on bookshelves. I crave candles in scents like "jasmine" and "water lily" instead of my usual, spicy, sandalwood-y favorites. It's really and truly like I become possessed by some other woman this time of year. Like maybe this, headless, even-paler-than-I, woman. It sort of creeps me out.

Christmas 2007

2007-12-26T14:03:00.001-06:00

Christmas Eve 2007
Originally uploaded by veggiejj

Open this album to learn all about Anna Claire's first Christmas.

Or, you can watch a fancy version here:

Twas the night...

2007-12-23T19:19:00.001-06:00

Twas the night...
Originally uploaded by veggiejj

before, the night before Christmas. And all through our house. Not a creature was stirring....

So close...

2007-12-20T11:38:00.000-06:00

She wants to walk so badly, she could just poop.

Hey Drivel, Drivel The Kitty and The Fiddle (The Cat Just Hurled In My Shoe)