Weeks in a nutshell. . .part 1
“I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once.”
-Jennifer Yane
The last weeks of ’09 were rather hectic. Because of this, my record-keeping has been a bit. . .sporadic. But there are a few things that I feel should be documented, so I’m going to attempt to get everything down in a catch-up post (or two).
1.
In Which Babies are Stupid
Babies are stupid. And MINE will be grounded. For at least a month following birth. . . S/he is PUNISHED! No friends, no parties, no chatting on the phone ’till all hours. Television and video game privileges are suspended until further notice. This kid isn’t even allowed to have dessert, and to be perfectly honest, s/he is lucky that I don’t send kids to bed without dinner.*puts on mean mommy face* I’m serious.
In case you hadn’t figured it out already, we had our second ultrasound. This time, the technician was able to see everything that she needed to see, which is good. But baby is stubborn. And those legs were squeezed shut tighter than the proverbial skin on a frog’s bung-hole. Our ultrasound guru told us (as we also had been informed when T played this intra-uterine game) that *most* of the time in cases like ours it seems that the naughty child turns out to be a girl. That said, she also advised us not to go out and buy anything pink, because she honestly had been unable see anything. . .(not that we’d be buying anything pink anyway) *sigh* So at this point, we’re thinking we have a girl in there, but in all actually are still in possession of a very small and squirmy mystery.
The good news is that, as far as anyone can tell, said child seems to be healthy enough. Hooray for that! And if one takes the increasingly furious and constant pummeling my insides are taking, I’d say s/he is getting bored in there, and has taken up kickboxing to pass the time. Twenty-five weeks down, 15 to go. . . we’re getting closer to D-day – and how quickly!
2.
Let it Snow. . .
On the weekend before Christmas we were hit with around 2 feet of snow. Which was awesome. And while I know that isn’t considered much for some areas of the country, as far as Super Puff is concerned, it was a LOT of snow! We tried SO hard to make a snowman, but it was just too cold to stick. By the time it started getting a bit wishy-washy, I had my extra day-babies back, so we couldn’t spend as much time outside (given all the extra time it takes to get a kid ready for snow!). We still had loads fun, though – AND we got a white Christmas out of it, which is always nice!
Three cheers for SNOW!
3.
In Which Puff Learns a Lesson
Naturally, with all of this snow came an awful lot of coldness. And a small child begging to be allowed to go outside and play just about every hour or so. Although I am always happy to take my little lady out to experience something rad, this was getting old quick. Why? Well, because it was cold out there. And windy. And I don’t really have enough appropriate attire to properly dress my pregnant self for this weather. Besides, no matter how much she begged to go out, she only lasted about 15 minutes before begging to go inside again. Which is fine, except that it literally takes about 30 minutes to get her sufficiently bundled in the first place – tights, snowsuit, extra socks, boots, sweater, coat, scarf, hat, gloves. . . YOU do the math (and that’s not even counting the ‘OH NO! I HAFTA PEEEE!’ which inevitably occurs the moment said child has been officially bundled, and the un and re bundling that comes directly after). It’s a vicious cycle. After she had defrosted for around 15 minutes, she was all ready to go back out again. I, however, was not. Plus all her stuff was still wet from the last time. . . so after a few rounds of this nonsense I figured out a solution!
Since all she really wanted to do anyway was eat the stuff, I brought in a bowl full of snow and presented it to her with a spoon. Puff couldn’t be happier! She gobbled that snow and asked for seconds. NO PROBLEM! At least, it wasn’t a problem until Super Puff came up with her brilliant idea of the day;
T: Mom! You need to microwave this snow! Me:??! Huh? Microwave the snow? Why? T: Because it's too cold. Me: Um. Its snow. Snow is supposed to be cold. That's how its made! T: Warm it up in the microwave! Me: But. . .then it will melt into water. The snow will be gone. *T begins showing all the early warning signs of a total meltdown* *By this point, T's dad is laughing at us* Me: Okay! Fine! *I Microwave the snow & hand back a bowl of luke-warm water* *T Takes bowl, looks confused, but refuses to admit defeat* Me: See? Warm snow is only water. Snow has to be cold. T: No. It is snow. I will eat my warm snow. . .
And she did. But she absolutely refused to admit defeat, and would NOT refer to the stuff as water. It was SNOW. Period.
yummy!
4.
Canes of Candy
Teaball had her very first (and second, third, and fourth. . .) candy cane this season, and has become a big fan. A HUGE fan. Although though she has declared them to be ‘wery spicy,’ (her opinion on all things mint), I suppose that the copious amounts of sugar included in the spirally mix balances everything out nicely.
Sorry for such a blurry photo – it was dark, and my flash was off. But its the best first candy-cane picture ever, and I love it. Even with the blur.
5.
Thar be Hair
I know I posted this in my New Year’s thread, but I feel it deserves a duplicate entry. A BRAID!!! This, my friends, is BIG NEWS! My poor little bald baby has come so far, and we’re all terribly excited about it. A BRAID! *WOOT* Ain’t NOBODY gonna mistake my cutie for a boy ever again! Granted, it isn’t a very good braid. . .and it isn’t very long, either. And we can only pull this stunt off with dripping-wet hair. . .and only for about 5 minutes, tops. But regardless of all these things, it IS a braid, and its living in my daughter’s hair. And that is very exciting!
THESE pictures were taken last week or so…
THIS picture was taken in January of 2008
6.
In Sickness and in Health
Remember a while back when I mentioned something about being sick? Yeah, well. . .this is the most evil and tenacious cold that has ever existed. The Puff and I – along with my day babies – are all sick. We’ve all been fighting this illness around a month now! Ridiculous! Every other week everyone seems as if they’re getting better, but the week after, everyone seems to be getting worse again. The evening after Christmas, Puff developed a fever. Her doctor says that she is juuuuuuust in the very beginning stages of a sinus infection and bronchitis. MY doc said that I have bronchitis, too. Antibiotics all around! I’m praying that this nastiness finally goes away – just for th’ record. I am SICK and TIRED of being SICK and TIRED! I think we all are. . .
Puff actually thinks that her Amoxicillin is tasty, and is happy to drink it down like a big girl.
She’s happy to share, too – would you like a taste?!
7.
Snuggly. With Teeth.
A few nights ago, my poor little Tea-ball baby woke from a seemingly sound sleep. She cried out, sounding terribly upset – which is quite unlike her. Naturally, I went running in to soothe her, but. . .there wasn’t anything wrong. She was upset and crying, but her diaper was still dry, her nose was clear, no coughing, no fever – she was awake and alert. . . and the house had been silent before she started howling. Her father came in after me to check that all was well, and when she had calmed down, he asked her what had woken her up.
T said that she was scared . . .
because her blanket had been trying to bite her.
I don’t know why she would say something like that! She had two blankets in her bed that night, her super-snuggly elephant blanket that she has slept with every night since she was born, and the quilt her Nonna made for her – again, she’s had it since birth. Neither of them had ever tried to bite her before – they’re very well-trained and gentle blankets. Both are perfectly nice, and have not an aggressive bone in their fluffy bodies. After checking her blanket for any signs of teeth (and anything that didn’t belong in her crib or jammies), Puff snuggled happily back down (with the same blankets) and fell immediately back to sleep for the remainder of the night.
We’re chalking the whole thing up to a bad dream. . . I’ve always wondered what babies dream about. Babies are weird. So are dreams.
Congratulations! You’ve reached the end. I hope it was worth it . . . I wish I had a prize or something to give you for making it through all this. And still nothing about Christmas! I’m getting to that. Next time, I promise – but its waaaaaaaaaay past my bedtime now, so I must be off. Have a happy!
Huginn, Muninn, and me 