tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58546970060405448812024-03-14T09:49:49.111-04:00A Week of WednesdaysKnitting is LifeDr. aWoWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06020077523939400539noreply@blogger.comBlogger132125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5854697006040544881.post-37958629491312898102012-07-30T11:30:00.001-04:002012-07-30T11:30:54.489-04:00Dear Daughter: 12 - 16 MonthsDear Vivienne,<br />
<br />
It's been four months since I wrote you a letter. It's been a busy third of a year, and you have been learning a lot in that time. I am so proud of my smart, sweet, beautiful little girl.<br />
<br />
<b>March 20th - April 20th</b><br />
Since your first birthday, you have mastered walking. Your first steps occurred a couple of days after your first birthday, and you didn't take long to become a pro. The only time I see you crawling now is when you are completely exhausted. It's so much fun to walk with you, though you rarely want to hold my hand as you prefer to shoot off to see the world. We have an Elmo harness to put on you in public to keep you safe when we are out in public; you're so intrepid and run off with no apparent concern for where your father or I are. Speaking of motility, you have become really good at climbing steps. You love any opportunity to climb steps, and insist on limiting all our time outdoors to going up and down the steps to the backdoor. It can be slow-going with you on the stairs, as you have an adorable habit of hitting each new step with an open palm multiple times, as if checking for terra firma. In a similar development, you have learned that objects can be used to stand upon. You love stacking up toys to look over the safety gate we have around the TV. I am a little nervous that you might get over it someday!<br />
<br />
As of this month, you have five teeth. As always, you were a trooper with teething, and you didn't seem bothered at all. In fact, you have so few symptoms that I never really know when one is about to come in. The only possible sign of your teething is a recent spate of night awakenings. You have had some liquid in your ear which I think may be becoming an earache, so that may be the culprit. You might also be wanting to be fed. <span style="background-color: white;">In other health-related news, you finally got your MMR shot this month. As much as I have been looking forward to not having to worry whenever I read about measles breakouts, I'll admit I did have some anxiety. I was reassured by our decision to use the Dr. Sears Alternative Vaccination Schedule, and you did so great that I was sure there wouldn't be any longterm side effects. </span><br />
<br />
Since mid-February, your Dad has been working in Nashua, which means that you and I have been on our own during the week. You are such great company, and we've had a lot of fun, but you are always so happy to see your Dad on Skype or on the weekends. Your father and you love playing together. On a recent evening when he was at home, he taught you to play ball. He threw it to you (sitting in my lap, so I helped catch the ball), and you threw it back, which basically consisted of dropping it in his direction, and saying "aah". It was adorable. You and I are looking forward to him being home for good in May!<br />
<br />
You are so responsive now, and clued in to what's going on around you. When I drop you off at daycare, you smile and give me a big wave goodbye. It's such a nice image to keep as I miss you during the hours I am at work. Your greater comprehension shows in other areas too. When we are reading your word book, when we get to the goose, you start making a "honk" sound, and poking yourself lightly in the stomach <span style="background-color: white;">like I usually do</span><span style="background-color: white;">. When we read your "Peek-a-boo" book, you now say boo as we turn each page. </span><br />
<br />
<b>April 20th - May 20th</b><br />
This month, you have been adding to your words. Your two favorites are "Whoa" and "Uh-oh", which can be used to categorize most anything. You are so eager to use them that you have taken to dropping things on purpose just to say "uh-oh", notably food from your high chair.<br />
<br />
This month, you gained more teeth. I always say this because it impresses me so much -given my own horrendous memories of gaining my adult teeth -that I never know when you are getting new teeth because you never fuss at all.<br />
<br />
It wasn't only teeth growing in your mouth this month. Lots of words appeared too! By far the cutest was the fact that you have started "reading". You and I were in the sitting room together, and I heard you saying "ooo" over and over. I looked to see what you were up to (I was reading my own book) and I saw you were reading your Peek-a-Boo book. Since then, you have done the same with your "Where's Spot?" book, but in this case, you were saying the word "No".<br />
<br />
You had another ear infection this month. It sadly has become a familiar routine of noticing you have a fever, taking you to the doctor, and getting you diagnosed with an earache. You do not care for antibiotics one little bit! As always, you were not bothered in the slightest by it.<br />
<br />
We discovered your love of being photographed this month. One morning when you were a little cranky from being tired and suffering the effects of your ear infection, we put you in the red chair to take your monthly photo, and you started fussing and wanting to be held. As soon as the camera came out, you immediately stopped crying, and started smiling and posing instead. You're such a little ham! This love of posing really paid off when we had another photo session with our friend Kristin, and we got some really great pictures. One of you and your Dad is my particular favourite.<br />
<br />
The best thing this month was a visit from your Nana. She was here for two weeks, and spent the first week at home with you while I was at work. You didn't do much as you were still sick, and I was a lot happier that you were able to recover from your earache with Nana, rather than at daycare. The next week you were better, I was off work, and we had an amazing time together. We went to Janel's BBQ, the mall, cafe's, a petting zoo/farm (where you stole Cheeze-its out of a rabbit hutch!), the Yankee Candle store, Magic Wings butterfly farm, and the Cheesecake factory on the way to the airport. We had so much fun with Nana here, and we were very sad to see her leave. <br />
<br />
<b>May 20th - June 20th</b><br />
This month, you did some great reading. I was sitting with you as you were reading "Brown Bear", and you read it with the same tempo that I read it to you. I love how much you love books; they are by far your favourite toys!<br />
<br />
One evening this month, your father, you and I went on a walk through the nature preserve (the place you took your first ever outing). We walked through the elementary school playground, and your father decided to play on the Monkey Bars. He hung motionless from the bars, which is a reference to an episode of a show called Arrested Development. You looked at him and started screaming with laughter. It was very adorable.<br />
<br />
You have now learned what a cell or mobile phone is. You held a phone up to your head and started saying "Hi", and "Bye" and chatting away to the imaginary person on the other end of the phone. You have been doing the same thing with my iPod. I don't know where you picked up this habit; I never use my phone!<br />
<br />
Finally, this month, you had yet another earache. In fact it is likely the same earache from last month that was resistant to Amoxicillin. We got yet more antibiotics, this time with a beta-lactamase inhibitor. You were so upset every time we had to give you antibiotics, and I felt awful, but we managed to finish the course. As we have had a recent run of earaches, we decided that it was time to say goodbye to your pacifiers. You are such a happy baby that you don't really need to be "pacified"! Indeed, you didn't seem at all perturbed by their abrupt departure.<br />
<br />
<b>June 20th - July 20th</b><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">This</span> month, we have been using the methods in The Happiest Toddler on the Block. We had been already doing most of the recommendations such as spending lots of time with you, not letting you watch TV or eat junk, etc. However, despite all the positive reinforcement and affection we were giving you, your toddler ways started to come out. The positive of this is that you are becoming adventurous, and developing a love of learning and exploring, but the negative is that you can sometimes be a bit temperamental and defiant. One technique the book suggests is the "clap growl". Instead of spanking a child, which is barbaric, you clap loudly and growl. If the toddler still does whatever you are trying to stop, you turn away for a few seconds as if to say "I'm not engaging with you while you are doing this". Instead of learning not to do things that I attempt to discipline you about (screeching, throwing, biting), you instead have learned the clap growl, which you have applied when I haven't given you more grapes, attempted to make you sit down on a chair, or changed your diaper. In related news, you have definitely figured out what the word "No" means. It's usually accompanied by a hand swiping whatever you don't want (clothing, non-strawberry food stuffs).<br />
<br />
The other words you have learned are "ball". "treat" and "cheese", among others. Your Dad took you to your fifteen month appointment, and the doctor said that four to six words is good for your age, and he prefers to see eight. We wrote up a list of your words that we were both in agreement you were using right, and you have 20! You're so smart. Even Lilly, the lady who runs your daycare commented to me that you have an amazing vocabulary. You have even started putting words together like "up and down" when we sing "Wheels on the Bus", and "up above" in "Twinkle, Twinkle". Your understanding of what we are saying is also amazing. Whenever I say to you, "Hey, let's put your books away!" you stop what you are doing, and help me put them away. It's really impressive, and also very sweet that you are so helpful.<br />
<br />
You and took up swimming this month too. The first week, you cried and wanted to get out, until the teacher had us sing "Wheels on the Bus"; you thought jumping up and down was a lot of fun (plus you enjoyed singing along)! The second week, you still kept a pretty tight hold on me, but you used the noodle, swam on your back with your head on my shoulder, and had no tears.<br />
<br />
This month you have been climbing everywhere. Every object is a potential stepping tool for you, including - much to my terror - anything with wheels. We have had to start watching you like a hawk. It is exciting to see that you are so smart, but it's exhausting too! You have also started reaching for anything you can get your hands on too. The funniest example of this was when I was feeding you the other day. I had you yoghurt and spoon ready on the counter, and I was collecting other things to feed you. You obviously weren't happy with how long I was taking, so you reached up to the counter, opened the yoghurt and stood in the middle of the kitchen feeding to yourself. We have been letting you eat with a spoon and you are doing really well with it.<br />
<br />
This will be the last of the monthly letters, and instead I will email you updates of your development. The reason for this switch is that a monthly letters were appropriate when you were an infant, and only accomplishing one or two things a month. Now that your learning has picked up such a fast pace, you are learning new things daily, and it's hard to remember them all by the end of the month. To ensure that you get everything, I have been writing you emails as things happen, so that information is becoming redundant.<br />
<br />
These last four months have been such a joy. I am so in love with you, and I am so proud of all the things you have been accomplishing. It is such a pleasure to be your Mum, and I am so grateful that I get to see you grow up and discover the world.<br />
<br />
I love you, Sweetheart,<br />
<br />
Mum xxx<br />
<br />
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<br />Dr. aWoWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764017235733394669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5854697006040544881.post-35614263092188424812012-05-28T20:03:00.001-04:002012-05-28T20:03:15.468-04:00Numistatism IIII've had this post sitting in my drafts for about 3 months. I've decided to go ahead and publish the ones I have written in the hopes I will become motivated to write up more coins!<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">49. Alaska</span><br />
The second to last state to be admitted to the Union came aboard on January 3, 1959. Alaska's coin features a Grizzly Bear emerging from a waterfall with a salmon in its mouth, and the words "Great Land". The word<span style="font-style: italic;"> great </span>could be correctly interpreted in one of two ways when referring to Number 49. Alaska has the largest surface area of any state, and is also considered to be one of the most scenic states in the USA (65% of Alaskan land is federally classified as national forests, national parks, or national wildlife refuges). Alaska is the northernmost State and sits between the Pacific and Arctic Oceans, with its neighbour, Russia, across the Bering Strait (visible from at least one house, I hear). You'd be right to assume the local weather channels don't pull out the smiling sun animation too often; Juneau and the southeast panhandle are the only areas in Alaska to breach freezing temperatures in winter daytime hours. In fact, the word Alaska means, "the object towards which the action of the sea is directed". When that <span style="font-style: italic;">sea</span> is the Arctic Ocean, you've got to expect a nippy wind chill. Not a population to be scared off by facial-feature-necrotising breezes, a whopping 4,078 of the denizens of Alaska live in Barrow, located a chilly 330 miles <span style="font-style: italic;">above</span> the arctic circle.<br />
<br />
Historically, native peoples such as the Aluet, Haida, Tlinglit, Tsimshian and Yup'ik lived happily in Alaska until boatfuls of smallpox-addled Europeans graced their shores. If you have a monthly EFT going to PETA, you may want to skip ahead a sentence or two. The region was originally a Russian territory, colonized somewhere in the 17th century. The "ruskies" prized the land for their thriving fur trade, until 1867 when America picked up the territory for an Everything-Must-Go-esque two cents per acre. A couple of pelts notwithstanding, this likely seemed like a fair trade at the time. However, <span style="font-style: italic;">caveat venditor</span>, it turned out the whole area was basically a bit of icy soil floating about on a massive oil field punctuated by lumps of gold. <span style="font-style: italic;">Good news local wildlife, you can keep your pelts. Bad news, it might get coated in hydrocarbonic goo every now and then.</span> State Capital: Juneau<br />
<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">50. Hawaii</span><br />
Correctly spelt "Hawai'i" (I told you Hallowe'en wasn't the only word that has an apostrophe in it), the Aloha State was the last* horse across the finish line on August 21, 1959. The State coin features a map of the Islands, the State motto "Ua Mau Ke Ea O Ka 'Āina I Ka Pono," (translation: <span style="font-style: italic;">try fitting this onto a license plate</span>), and King Kamehameha reaching out his hand, presumably for a can of Spam, of which Hawaiians consume more per capita than people in any other State. The State coin may need updating someday, as the main island of Hawaii contains three active shield volcanoes all depositing heavy basalt, which causes the earth's crust to bend beneath it, and someday may lead to catastrophic detachment. On the plus side, this means Hawaii is still growing, so yay for real estate!<br />
<br />
I really thought that if any State's history didn't follow the <span style="font-style: italic;">happy-natives-lived-here-until-the-Europeans-came </span> storyline, it would be Hawaii. You can imagine my disappointment to learn that while James Cook was a little <span style="font-style: italic;">man-who-came-to-dinner</span> in 1778 when he renamed the territory the Sandwich Islands, he really committed a faux pas on his return in 1779 when he attempted to abduct <style>
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</style>King Kalani<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">ʻ</span>ōpu<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">ʻ</span>u. On the heels of Cook's interest in the region, several European groups arrived to the islands, showering the inhabitants with bounties of smallpox, measles and the flu. Hawaii remained a kingdom until 1887, when a constitution stripping the king of much of his power was signed. Under McKinley, Hawaii was annexed by the US and gained statehood in 1959. Since then Hawaii has run the gamut of conservative (1993 ban on same-sex marriage) to progressive (Hawaii Prepaid Healthcare act). State Capital: Honolulu<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />*as of 2011; every so often you hear rumblings about Puerto Rico. </span>Dr. aWoWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764017235733394669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5854697006040544881.post-16284016528386712992012-04-10T16:30:00.000-04:002012-04-18T10:40:31.618-04:00Dear Daughter: 1 Year<br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Dear Vivienne,<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">You are now one year old! It's
amazing to look back at all the things you have done in that time, and how much
you have grown and changed. It really has been the most perfect and fun year of
my life. You are the perfect daughter, and it is a pleasure and an honour to be
your Mum. This letter is the final in a year of letters. I will continue to
write to you, and document your achievements, just not in a rigid monthly
fashion. The main reason is that you are so active now, and I don't want to
miss time with you because I am behind a computer trying to fulfill some
self-imposed task.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Early this month, you were
starting to learn how to walk. The first thing you mastered was standing. We
noticed this month that you had gone from leaning against the coffee table when
you were playing at it, to standing away from it while you slammed your toys
into it (luckily, your Dad had the foresight to switch out the glass insert
with some plywood when you were born). For ambulation, you very quickly learned
that you could get around using your Winnie the Pooh car as walker, or holding
our hands. However, if there was something you really needed to get to quickly,
it was time to drop to the floor and crawl there. As with all milestones, there
were a few nights of disrupted sleep involved. Unfortunately, there
was a perfect storm of learning how to walk, getting your two front teeth, and
developing a bit of separation anxiety. A few cuddles and a little nursing in
the glider got you back to sleep pretty reliably. By the end of the month, you
had taken a few steps, and you also were the proud owner of two new teeth!<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">This month, you have really
enjoyed being with your friends at daycare. Every morning, you jump up and down in my arms with
excitement as we get out of the car. Your minders are always telling me what a
smart and friendly little girl you are. You have been busy making lots of art
projects this month. I have two hanging at my desk at work, and I keep the rest
safe in a box that I will ensure the cats don't pee into, again! At home, you and I have been fostering
your creativity by drawing with crayons, bubbles, and soapy water. Our fun
with crayons tends to end in a bit of a temper as you tend to attempt to eat
the crayons and you don’t like being corrected on their proper usage. We have
also been having dance parties to bad 90’s music because Mum knows the words,
and we sing along. I love that you have begun singing along when I play music.
The first real song that you ever sang was “Mmm Bop” by Hanson. I sing it to
you every evening as we get out of the bath because you seem to think songs
with the word “bop” in them are amusing. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Everyone knows about the
“Terrible Two’s”. In addition, so
many parents gripe that no one warned them about the “Terrible Three’s”, that
we are now aware of that phase.
However, I was never once warned of the “Terrible Ones”. I should point
out that I am saying this in good humour, because you are generally a very
sweet and happy little girl. You are also very bright, and with that
intelligence comes a little bit of a temper. You threw a pretty good tantrum
one evening because I wouldn’t let you take your pyjamas into the bathtub with
us! In addition to becoming assertive, you are also becoming quite the intrepid
little explorer, which sometimes conflicts with your ability to be obedient.
For instance, while you understand what the word “no” means, you love standing
at the top of the stairs to the basement shaking the safety gate. As you can
imagine, this makes me quite nervous so I have been preventing you from
crawling to the basement stairs. When I say “no”, you often look at me, pause
for a while, but then continue on toward your destination! <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Your motor skills really took off
this month. At the start of the month, you mastered your shape sorter, and you
were so pleased with yourself that you would put the circles and squares
through the sorter over and over again. As a indicator of how advanced you are,
at your 1-year check up, your nurse asked if you were putting objects into
containers. I started explaining that you were good at the square, triangle,
and circle, but not so much with the more complicated star. She looked
confused, and it turned out that she meant simply putting anything into a
container like a bucket. She also asked if you turned pages on books. I let her
know that you’ve been doing that since you were about 5 months old!! <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">This month, you also loved
playing with blocks. I would stack a few off them up, and you would quickly
knock them down. We would make a game of it, whereby I would try and stack as
many as I could before you came and smashed them over. I rarely got past two or
three. One time you were giggling with your Dad so I managed to stack about
twelve. When you turned around and saw the tower of blocks, you gave a gasp of
delight, and then you knocked them all down! It was so cute that your Dad tried
to get it on video, but subsequent 12-block towers were not as surprising to
you. Later in the month, you learned how to stack the blocks yourself, but again,
your desire to knock them down gets the better of you before you get too far
past two blocks. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: medium;">This month, you have been way to
busy to sit still for reading time. In past months, I could read up to 12
books, or more, with you sitting on my lap turning the pages as we went. This
month, depending on how tired you are, you don’t sit still to get through even
one book. That’s not to say that you don’t like reading. You spend a lot of
time going through your book collection, selecting one of your favorites and
bringing it to the coffee table to read aloud (which I could listen to all
day). Your daycare minder told me that one day when you were put in a different
room due to a flood in your normal room, and the very first thing you scooted
over to was the books. In the evening when you are a little less energetic, you love to sit on my lap and enjoy story-time. Unless you have brought a book to me, I hold up three and let you pick which one we should read first. You still have specific books that you love that will always be picked first, and books that you can't stand that will cause you to end story-time if I attempt to read them to you, and I love seeing that you are being selective and forming your own opinions about literature! <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">The weather has gotten a little
nicer this month, and we have enjoyed more and more evenings outside together.
We play with bubbles that we were given at your friend Riley’s birthday, as well
as running around with your Winnie the Pooh car. We also brought out your
tricycle that is for a slightly older child, but you seem to know to hold onto
the handles and we hold onto you as we scoot around. You love it so much that
you smile and giggle as we go around. You and your Dad had a lot of fun on your
tricycle at your birthday party. More recently, I think you have taken to
“ghost-riding” as you often try to stand up on your seat while we are in
motion! <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">This month has seen you become
even more expressive than before. You chat and tell stories all the time. We
frequently wake to the sound of you telling yourself a long, involved story
over the baby monitor in the mornings. You have being saying some distinct
words like “Hi”, “Hi-ya”, and “Bop” (the last being reserved for singing). More
recently, when you are done eating your dinner, you sit in your high chair
shaking your arms above your head. I use the baby signing classes we attended,
and point my finger upwards saying, “Do you want up, up, up?” In response, you
point your finger upward and respond “up, up!” The irony of you learning both the
sign and the spoken word at the exact same time is not lost on me! <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">This month obviously ended with
your first birthday! It was on a Tuesday, and I was able to take the afternoon
off work to spend it with you. I picked you up from daycare and you were very
happy to see me. We sang Happy Birthday (a song you heard numerous times that
day). We first went to the local Bank of America to open a bank account, and
deposit the $40 your Granddad sent from Ireland for your birthday. We bought
you some organic food that we needed for your lunches at the River Valley
market, and then headed to the mall to buy you a present. I wanted to get you
some Duplo (lego for toddlers), and “Mega Bloks” (a similar toy) had a
two-for-one offer, so I bought you a bag with fun, bright, primary colours, and
another bag with pinks and purples for my beautiful little girl. I was so
impressed that you figured out that the blocks could be put together and taken
apart within minutes of opening the bag. Needless to say, you also loved
knocking over anything I made with them. I also bought you a puzzle board with
wooden numbers with little pegs. You love biting the little pegs and carrying
the numbers around like a pacifier. You also think it’s hilarious when I do it.
<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">We had your birthday the
following Saturday on March 24<sup>th</sup>. While it technically took place during
your 13<sup>th</sup> month, it seems germane to this letter. We had a barbeque
in our back garden. You wore a beautiful little dress that Nana Mary sent over
from England. I had been knitting a dress that I wanted you to wear, but it
ended up being way to small, so luckily Nana had sent the beautiful -and quite expensive-
little dress. The guests were Riley, Sean & Connor with their parents Yael,
John, Sabrina, Brendan, Aimee, Michelle, Micah, Ian; Baby Isadora and her
parents, Brie and Johan; Janel & Mike; Daddy’s colleagues, Kristen with her
husband and two children, Amy and her son, April and her stepdaughter, and
Jolie and her daughters; our neighbours, The Cox’s and The Browns; and your
Grandmother and Great-grandmother. You took a nap so you were in a good mood by
the time people started arriving. We played with our friends while we ate
burgers and hotdogs. Then it was time to eat cake. We had two cakes: your
Grandmother brought a <i>Winnie the Pooh</i> cake, which all the guests ate, and I
made a special sugar-free, nut-free, oil-free, egg-free carrot cake with
vanilla-ricotta “icing” that you and I ate. We had test-run it the week before,
and I knew that you loved it. When we came out of the house singing Happy
Birthday, you had your back turned to us, and you were more involved in playing with a
toy. However, you loved everyone singing to you, and once you got into the
icing, you delighted in smearing it into my cardigan. Then it was time to open
your gifts, and we had a wonderful bounty of toys, books, and adorable clothes
from all our generous friends. My personal favourites were the hand-knitted
dress from Connor’s Mommy, and the hand-sewn toy from Janel. We have had a
great time reading all the books you were given and playing with all your new
toys. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">This month, like every month
before it, has been the happiest of my life. I can’t believe how much you have
grown in the year since your amazing entry to our lives. Your birth was at the
time the most happy and love-filled moment of my life, but seeing you smile for the first time,
hearing you laugh at <i>This Little Piggy</i>, feeling your arms suddenly clinging around my neck when
you were scared of the vacuum cleaner, watching you grow and learn, or the many nights I simply watched you sleeping, have all been moments that are happier than the one before it. I am just
blessed with how much love, smiles, and giggles we have enjoyed with you. You
are the sweetest, brightest, and most beautiful little girl I have ever met,
and I have treasured each and every one of the 527,040 minutes that you have
been my daughter. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Happy birthday to my most
precious little girl,<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">I love you,<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">Mum xxx<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<br />Dr. aWoWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764017235733394669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5854697006040544881.post-32625027605385801312012-02-27T22:40:00.000-05:002012-02-27T22:57:15.046-05:00Dear Daughter: Month 11Dear Vivienne,<br />
<br />
It's now less than a month to your first birthday. To me it feels like only yesterday that you were born. However, looking at pictures of your early days serves to remind me of just how far you have come. This month, you have been particularly busy in your progress.<br />
<br />
You are now a professional finger food eater! Realistically, you were ready to try finger foods months ago, you were able to grasp things between your thumb and index finger, you showed interest (grabbed at) our foods, etc. The only issue was that your Mum is a Nervous Nelly, and I was terrified of something choking you. As soon as I let you try to feed yourself you got it straight away. Last month, we started on puffs and rice rusks, which you adore. This month, we tried more exciting things like cheese, avocado, banana, pasta. You demolish any avocado I put in front of you, and as for cheese, it disappears as soon as I put it in front of you. You love feeding yourself so much that it has become increasingly difficult to feed you cereal and pureed vegetables at dinner time. Unfortunately, you can't quite spoon-feed yourself yet, so I have to chase you around trying to feed you your cereal.<br />
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This month, we had our first Parent-Teacher conference at your daycare. When I was a child, your Nana used to dread going to PTA meetings because she was usually confronted with a laundry list of my misbehaving. While I knew I wasn't going to hear anything like that, I have to admit I was a little nervous going in! However, I was told only wonderful things about you. You are up-to-date with, or ahead on all the milestones for a baby your age. In fact, you were graduated to the toddler's room at your daycare this month (normally babies are 1 year old before leaving the infant room). You love being around the bigger children, and you are learning so much since you got there. I particularly love the different activities you do in the toddler room. You have brought home art projects which I adore, and I am going to keep for you. You also get a lot of outdoor time, and you particularly love the sandbox.<br />
<br />
You have learned a lot of new things this month. You went from being able to stand, to cruising (walking around using furniture to hold yourself up). Later in the month you got even closer to walking. You are able to take steps while holding our hands. Your favourite walking activity is using your Winnie the Pooh car to run around. We have taken a few videos of you doing so, and emailed them to all your relatives. Everyone is so proud of how advanced you are. You love your new motility and you are using your new skills to explore the house, and point out what a poor job we've been doing on the baby-proofing front! You are also getting very fast. One day I was changing you and looked away for a second. When I turned back, you had a piece of poop in your hand, which you were holding right by your mouth. You did not look pleased at all. As you are so active now, diaper changing has become quite tricky. We have a very limited time to get you cleaned, and re-diapered before you roll over and crawl away. If we make the mistake of not having wipes, or diaper cream ready ahead of time, we will invariably have to retrieve you from clear across the room. Luckily, we can distract you by making sure you have a toy or a book to read, but this doesn't always work.<br />
<br />
This month you meet a few new characters. Early in the month, we went to the Yankee Candle store with your Grandma. We had gone with her in December in an attempt to see Santa, but the queue was 2 hours long, so we went home. That was the day I got your tummy bug! Your Grandma really wanted a good picture of you with Santa, so we returned, this time with your Dad. I should point out that you are a very personable little girl, and you love meeting new friends, so it came as quite a surprise to us all that you immediately burst into tears as soon as we handed you to Santa. You and I went for a walk, and you were happy as usual quite quickly. The other new friend you met was a huge golden retriever. We were at Sean's (one of the Little Peeps) house to meet up with everyone. His Daddy took their dog out while we were there, because she is large and excitable. However, we stayed longer than expected and were still there when the dog arrived home. One of the other babies who is older than you was very afraid of the dog, so I was concerned that you would be too. You really wanted to see the dog, so I held you and slowly brought you to her. She licked your hands, and you screamed laughing. Once I was happy that you weren't frightened, I let you crawl up to her on your own, which you did with glee. She licked your face, and you thought it was hilarious. I was so proud of what a brave and fun-loving daughter I have! I warned your father that you will most likely want a dog when you get older.<br />
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Your playtime has progressed quite a bit this month. The cutest thing you learned how to do is playing "where's baby?" You pick up blankets and hold them in front of your face. Then you quickly drop it to reveal your face. While you are doing this, I ask "where's baby", and when you reveal yourself, I say "there she is!" You laugh, as do I , and we play the game again. It's the most fun game I have ever played. We discovered this game one evening when you were doing your other new activity. You love playing with clothes. When I leave you in your room to get your bath ready, I generally come back to an emptied changing table, and you sitting in a pile of clothes, diapers, and blankets. One evening, I took a blanket, and put it on my own head and asked "where's Mummy?" You pulled it off my head, and decided to return the amusement! You have also become suddenly interested in playing independently. In previous months, you generally wanted to sit on my lap while you played. This month you are quite content to play on your own. The sweetest thing you do is to "read" yourself books. You are a chatty little girl, but when you are reading, you make this specific "tukka, tukka, tukka" sound. It's adorable. I love that you are turning into such a bookworm! As you were getting a little bored with the books we had, I decided to buy you some more at the Salvation Army store. We managed to find a number of children's books, and best of all, we found a few that have little flaps to open. You have gotten really good at opening flaps, and you are really good about not ripping them.<br />
<br />
For the past two months or so, you have had four upper teeth that looked like they were going to come in any day. In fact, I think I may have predicted their imminent arrival in a previous letter. However, as of the end of this month, there is <i>still</i> no sign of them. (This letter was written after the 20th of the month, so I can tell you that next month's letter will have a more exciting dental update!). While there may not be any new teeth in your mouth, there may be some new words there! One Saturday this month, you looked at your Dad and said "Dada". You haven't done it since, but it sent your father and I into a frenzy of saying "there's Dada" and "I'm Mama" over and over to see if you will say it again. You have said "Mama" a number of times. You definitely know that we love hearing you say "Dada" and "Mama", but I'm not sure you are using them as monikers for us (the biggest clue here is that the number of syllables can vary quite a bit).<br />
<br />
This month started out with you sleeping very well. You were sleeping all the way from 7pm until at least 6am. However, you developed a nasty cold this month, which -needless to say- spread to me, and then on to your father, though he got a much milder bout. You and I had quite a few long nights of coughing so much that we woke up. You also developed an ear infection and conjunctivitis as a result of the cold. As usual, you were a real trooper, and you weren't bothered at all by any of your afflictions. Unfortunately, your lack of suffering meant you were completely opposed to our attempts to give you antibiotics and eyedrops, and it was a long 10 days of trying to administer them to you. Thankfully, we are all now back to great health, and we've had some great fun playing together in the last week or so.<br />
<br />
This month has been such a pleasure, and it really seems like each month is better than the last. You are the very best thing that has ever happened to me, and I am so lucky to be your mother. Thank you for another month of cuddles and smiles. I love you with all my heart.<br />
<br />
I love you Mung Bean,<br />
<br />
Mum xxx<br />
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<br />Dr. aWoWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764017235733394669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5854697006040544881.post-21866906134519763412012-01-27T17:07:00.006-05:002012-01-30T22:20:02.762-05:00Dear Daughter: Month 10Dear Vivienne,<br /><br />Happy New Year to my 10 month old little girl! You and I have had a fun month full of travel, friends, family, and adventures. Again, we've been so busy that I didn't get this month's letter written on time!<br /><br />This month started out in England. We had arrived to Nana Mary and Grandpa Nick's house three days before you hit the big ONE-OH! Your Nana was delighted to see you. She missed you so much after she left from taking care of you when you were little. You delighted everyone with your sweet nature, and Nana Mary really enjoyed showing you to her friends. She also enjoyed taking care of you, which allowed your Dad and I to spend the day sightseeing in London. Don't worry, we didn't dump you off with Nana for the entire trip. We traveled with Nana Mary to Bognor Regis and Chichester, and you rode your first bus. You really enjoyed the trips we took on the bus. We also took nice walks out to the beach near Nana's house. You really enjoyed seeing the sea.<br /><br />Your first Christmas ever was spent in Nana's house. Like every night we were in Europe, you were terribly jetlagged. Although you were very tired by bedtime, some part of you felt like it was 2pm! Needless to say you weren't very happy about being put to bed. As a result, large amounts of my evenings were spent nursing you in a dark room while everyone else was downstairs playing games or watching TV. It sounds tedious, but I really love every minute I get to spend with you, and our night time cuddles and nursing are the most perfect times.<br /><br />In case you were worried, Santa knew you had relocated for Christmas, so brought your presents to the correct address. He got you a finger puppet glove with a book attached. All the fingers were different animals, and the book was "Old McDonald". Santa also brought you some reading books (he obviously knows what a great reader you are).<br /><br />You got many other gifts, which somehow we managed to get home. Your favorite was a copy of Bambi that Uncle Ben gave you. We watched it together on Christmas evening, and you really enjoyed it. I loved seeing you giggle when you saw one of the animals jump and burrow into the ground (the scene is early in the movie in case you want to find it).<br /><br />On boxing day, we flew with Uncle Ben to visit Grandad and Mo-mo in Dublin. You were great on the plane as usual. Grandad and Mo-mo were thrilled to see you, as was your Uncle Sam. They couldn't get over how much you had grown and how alert you had become. We were all very impressed when we put you down to play in Grandad's living room. There were two steps leading into the dining room, and despite having never had access to steps, you climbed up them like an old pro! Your Grandad is an avid photographer, and took some lovely pictures of us. Grandad and Mo-mo were happy to spend time with you, and that allowed your Dad and I to travel to the Dublin's city centre to get some shopping done. We also went out for a lovely meal with your Uncle Ben.<br /><br />We all spent New Year's Eve at home with Grandad and Mo-mo's house (except for Uncle Ben who was out with friends). You went to bed before midnight as you were getting acclimated to the timezone by that point. Your Uncle Sam, Grandad and I were all in the kitchen getting a snack and goofing around when it struck midnight, so we missed the countdown! I gave you a New Year's kiss on your cheek when I went up to check on you.<br /><br />The next day we headed back to the US. You were perfect on the flight in the sense that you didn't scream crying like other children. However, you did do something a little bit naughty. You had ripped a page out of the Sky Mall magazine and I was letting you play with it. However, you started to eat it, and I didn't want you to ingest the ink, so I took it away from you. You opened your mouth and landed it on my cheek as if you were going to give me a kiss. However, instead of making the "mwah" sound that you usually do, you dig your two little teeth into my face. You then pulled away and gave me a look that said "that was a warning!" You have bitten me once or twice since then, but I have been sure to tell you "no", and you haven't done it more recently.<br /><br />Don't worry, you are still as sweet as ever. Nighttime has become a real joy. You are now sleeping through the night. You are also the best sleeper in the house. When I put you into your crib, you look around a little. Then you raise your arm to your head, cradle your head into your elbow, and you are fast asleep. As someone who does not go asleep very easily, I find it very impressive. Before you go asleep, we generally read your nighttime books (<span style="font-style: italic;">Dinosaur's Binkit, Time for Bed,</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">How Do I Love You</span>?). I hold all three up and let you choose which one to read first. No matter the order I present them, you always choose <span style="font-style: italic;">Dinosaur's Binkit</span> first (you like all the flaps in it), then <span style="font-style: italic;">Time for Bed</span>, and finally <span style="font-style: italic;">How Do I Love You</span>, which is your least favourite. I love that you have preferences, and are learning how to express them. We read <span style="font-style: italic;">How Do I Love You</span> because it's my favourite; I always cry at the final verse (I love all that you will be and everything you are) because it describes perfectly how I feel about you.<br /><br />You are also enjoying your crib while you are awake. I put you in it when I am getting your bath ready each night. Recently, you have discovered that you can stand up, hold the rails and bounce up and down. It is so sweet to see you smiling as you bounce. We also play peekaboo as you are in your crib and I am getting the bath ready. Speaking of your bath, the other night after we got out of the bath, we were wrapped up in towels and dancing in front of the mirror (as we often do). I was singing the Hanson song, Mmm-Bop to you. Suddenly, you started singing "bop, bop, bop" back to me. It was such fun.<br /><br />You have really started learning how to imitate other people. Your daycare principal, Lilly, told me that she came into the baby room and said "hi" to you. She was really impressed that you said "hi" right back to her. We have heard you say "hi" too. One of the sweetest things you do is say hi to the babies in Where is Baby's Belly Button? when we pull down the flaps. What's really interesting is that you only say hi when the baby's face had been hidden by the flap. On the pages where the baby's feet or hands had been hidden, but we could see the faces the whole time, you don't say hi.<br /><br />This month, you started developing fears. We were in the bath at Nana's house, and I was about to wash my hair with the hand-held shower attachment. As soon as I turned the water on, you looked terrified and clung to my neck. I turned it off straight away, and submerged my hair into the bath water to rinse the shampoo out. Luckily, you thought my hair sloshing about in the bath water was hilarious. Another thing you have become afraid of is the vacuum cleaner. You never had a problem with it before, but now you don't like it. You are okay with it if you are being held by the person who is doing the vacuuming, but when your Dad was vacuuming one day, you shouted and clung to me. I don't like you being scared, but I love that you turn to me when you are. I promise that I will always be there for you, and that you will always be safe with me.<br /><br />This month, we switched from having you at daycare all 5 days of the week to having you there only 3 days a week, because your Dad was able to stay home with you two days a week. I miss you terribly when I am at work, and I am so jealous that I don't get that time with you. However, I love that you two are spending time together and developing a great bond. It really warms my heart when I come home to find you on your Dad's lap reading a book, or sitting together eating dinner.<br /><br />Thank you for being such a perfect little daughter,<br /><br />I love you Monkey!<br /><br />Mum xxx<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvTaEr5ZgjDsxEZ2DVxEYTYpmM11lJMLkdrPBSceW1pkGDYHLwa1IoioydHmefiTM1BsZh6yqI40Jkexdt6EXdGAFh5LlrApsMxJDeYsZdY5x7iExNzwIX7_ivL67mlY0A_S5w2ii8_64/s1600/PC313866.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvTaEr5ZgjDsxEZ2DVxEYTYpmM11lJMLkdrPBSceW1pkGDYHLwa1IoioydHmefiTM1BsZh6yqI40Jkexdt6EXdGAFh5LlrApsMxJDeYsZdY5x7iExNzwIX7_ivL67mlY0A_S5w2ii8_64/s400/PC313866.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703628942710210306" border="0" /></a>Dr. aWoWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764017235733394669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5854697006040544881.post-8886206475789976492011-11-24T10:27:00.009-05:002012-01-05T11:40:33.564-05:00Dear Daughter: Month 9Dear Vivienne,<br /><br />You are now three quarters of a year old, and you are at such a fun age. You are full of smiles, kisses, and giggles. You are now more infatuated than ever with your father; no one gets the same smiles out of you like he does. When ever he walks across a room, you stare at him, and crane your neck to see where he's gone when he leaves the room. The other morning, you leaned over to him, slapped his face to wake him up, and said what sounded to both of us like "Hi Dad". We don't know that you were actually taking, so we haven't put it in the baby book as your first recorded word, but your father was thrilled.<br /><br />This month hasn't been entirely happy for you. You had your first cough this month. You had a few coughing fits, and you sounded a little hoarse, but for the most part it didn't bother you. However, as is often the case, it led to you developing an ear infection. I arrived to pick you up from daycare just as one of your minders was trying to call me to let me know that you had a fever. As it was the evening, I had to take you to the doctor's office after normal hours. When we arrived to the doctor's office, you were smiling and shouting "dadadadada" gleefully, when I was trying to convince them you were sick enough to make them stay late at work! Once they took your temperature, they were convinced that you were in fact unwell. One course of antibiotics later, your ears were totally fine. I will mention that you did not care for the antibiotics, and you were not afraid to show your displeasure.<br /><br />Not to belabour the topic of illness, but later in the month I got a call from your daycare to come collect you on a Thursday afternoon because you had vomited. You got sick a couple of times after we got home, but once we figured out how to nurse you with only small amounts, you started to hold everything down. As of dinnertime you had stopped getting sick entirely, but as your daycare has a strict rule that babies can't come back until they have gone a full 24 hours without vomiting, you and I had to stay home the next day, which essentially meant we had a nice three day weekend together. The next weekend I got the same stomach virus, and felt like I was going to die! Unfortunately, we had already planned to take you to see Santa with your Grandma, and she was on the road from New Hampshire when I started feeling ill, so I felt I couldn't cancel. However, it really cheered me up when we put you in the elf suit she bought you. Everyone commented on how cute you looked. One person even asked to take a picture of you! Having the stomach virus myself showed me what a trooper you are, because you never complained once, and in fact you were happy and smiling all through your bout with it. <br /><br />When I had the stomach bug, your father was at a wedding in Kansas, so it was just us girls fending for ourselves. I just about made it through the day looking after you, longing to get to bed as soon as I got you down. However, it was not to be. You started making a very scary gasping noise when you cried, and I was convinced that you had managed to choke on something. So instead of going to bed, we took a trip to the emergency room. It turned out that you had a mild case of croup. By the next day we were both much better, and your Dad arrived home once we didn't need any help. What great timing! I only tell you all this drab sickness news, because through everything, I was so impressed by how happy and unperturbed you were by these various afflictions, especially the ones that knocked me out for the count.<br /><br />We had been working on sleep training with you, as per the No Cry Sleep Solution, prior to your bouts of illness. However, it seemed pointless to try and teach you to fall asleep on your own in your crib while you were getting sick every hour, so we put in on hiatus until you got better. However, when we returned to getting you to sleep once you were well, you were on to us, having been introduced previously to all our tricks. Much to my chagrin, we had to resort to an intermediate between “crying it out” and the “no cry” approaches, whereby we come to soothe you every five minutes so you know that we are there and that you are loved, but we do not take you out of your crib. Much to my relief, you figured it out pretty quickly, although in an effort to not have to fall asleep in your crib, you have been falling asleep in record time while I nurse you before I put you to bed.<br /><br />This month you figured out how to crawl! You’ve definitely known what crawling is for a few months, which means you got extremely frustrated by your inability to do it. You had all the different parts of crawling figured out, but just weren’t putting them together in the correct order. This lead to you ending up in funny downward-facing-dog-like positions when you moved your legs but not your arms. We joked that this was because I did prenatal yoga. In keeping with the yogic quality to your crawling, your first crawling movements involved you keeping one leg crossed in front of you, as if you were crossing your legs, and moving the other three limbs around it. We called in portable pigeon pose. You have since started a more regular crawling pattern.<br /><br />Your milestones have come fast and furious since you learned how to crawl. The crawling felt like it took a few months to happen, but since then you have learned how to pull yourself to standing, clap your hands, and throw temper tantrums when I won’t let you play with dangerous objects like power cords, remote controls, etc. As I have said before, you are not a fussy baby at all. The exception to this is when you are angered by having something taken away. You not only cry, but you sometimes fling yourself backwards in protest. I am dreading the terrible twos! Speaking of lunging, you have reached the age where you now launch yourself like a projectile at things that catch your interest. We have to make sure we have a good hold on you! We are currently working on waving hello/goodbye and how to put shapes into their corresponding holes in your shape sorter toy. In other development news, you are so close to getting your front top teeth. I can see them under the gum, but they haven’t broken through yet. So far, they haven’t bothered you. I bet they will be here next month.<br /><br />As you are half American, this month marked your first every Thanksgiving. Your Grandpa arrived to spend the day with your father, and after we spent some time with them, we went to our friend Sara’s house. You wore a little pink dress, the poofy cardigan I knitted you and tight with ruffles on the butt. You were definitely the hit of the party. I barely saw you because everyone wanted to spend time with you, and the whole time we were there I was told how beautiful you were, and what a wonderful little personality you had. Everyone was very impressed how personable you were, and how you didn’t fuss or get scared by all the new people. In particular, people noted that at the end of the day, you were exhausted, but were smiling and interacting without fussing. I was told that you were so beautiful that you could make people believe in God, star in films or advertising, or just be stared at all day long. You definitely loved all the attention!<br /><br />I am again sorry that this letter is being written later than it should have been. Not only have I had my hands full with such a bright and lively little girl, but we also had a lot of packing and travelling to do. Three days before you turned 9 months old, we got on a plane and headed to England to spend Christmas with your Nana. So the first half of this letter was written while we were on vacation. I’ll write about the trip next month as the bulk of the visit happened during your tenth month.<br /><br />I say it every month, but I am so in love with my darling little daughter. Your smiles and happiness have brought the truest type of joy to my life. I am so fascinated to watch your development. You are simply the best thing that's every happened to me, and I treasure every fun moment I have with you.<br /><br />I love you Peek-a-boo,<br /><br />Mum xxx<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwMAMxxGd4h0GsiGTwFTV1KzltDMcmRxrCtOLDd91R333-LnJXau2NZuoxxjmFo1ix6Ni4RAV2Eu-gEAx7xNFvGoaujj8Q6ZGDGO09uYfaRU3pIu1xF3hezqtv9tFb1k0uLhxHkMyRjyLj/s1600/DSC06295b.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwMAMxxGd4h0GsiGTwFTV1KzltDMcmRxrCtOLDd91R333-LnJXau2NZuoxxjmFo1ix6Ni4RAV2Eu-gEAx7xNFvGoaujj8Q6ZGDGO09uYfaRU3pIu1xF3hezqtv9tFb1k0uLhxHkMyRjyLj/s400/DSC06295b.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5693807955950251026" border="0" /></a>Dr. aWoWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764017235733394669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5854697006040544881.post-41672844529880337212011-10-25T16:06:00.011-04:002011-11-27T22:53:15.158-05:00Dear Daughter: Month 8Dear Vivienne,<br /><br />Today you are 8 months old and *ahem* a couple of days. It's getting harder and harder to get to these letters because you are so busy theses days, and I need to show you all the things you want to see. You are still as sweet as ever. This month has been filled with lots of smiles and giggles.<br /><br />I've always wanted to expose you to books, and start you on the right path of learning. Since you were born, I've sat down with you to read a book or two whenever I get the chance. However, when you were younger, you didn't care for this activity too much so I had to make sure you were in a good mood before attempting to sit you down for reading time, and you would invariably start fussing after one or two books. This month, your opinion of this pastime has completely changed. Now you love reading time. In fact, when you start getting fussy in the evening I know it's time to sit down to read, which cheers you up. You also sit on my lap for long stretches of time; we usually read 11 or 12 of your books each evening. Then we read a little bath-time book, and we have two bedtime books to finish the day. I forgot to mention in previous letters that you have known what "turn the page" means for a few months now, and you do so when I ask you to. The most interesting thing for me is that you have books you love (Mr. Brown Can Moo; Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See; The "That's Not My Monster/Tractor/Puppy" series; Dinosaur's Binkit), but also that you have books you do not care for (The Napping House, We're Going on a Bear Hunt).<br /><br />You also have music you like to hear. Shake the Sillies Out and The Wheels on the Bus bring an instant smile to your face. We sing these songs on the car ride home each evening, to distract you long enough from the fact that you are getting hungry for oatmeal so that I can get home and make you some (you are not the most patient child I have ever met). We have improvised a few new verses for The Wheels on the Bus. By far, your favorite is "The farts on the bus go...". I'll let you figure out how that verse continues. I sang Dream a Little Dream to you when I was pregnant and as a newborn, and of all songs, this one definitely has the greatest calming effect on you.<br /><br />The funniest thing that you did this month was laughing hysterically at a ball I was bouncing. I was trying to show you that a ball I had bought for you that day lit up when it was hit hard enough. However, after I few bounces, I realized that you were cracking up laughing each time I bounced the ball. It had nothing to do with the lights in that ball; I switched to another ball that doesn't light up, and you found it equally amusing. I managed to get a video of it, but when I played it back, there was a very loud hissing noise (I had radio playing in the background). Thankfully, I was able to fix it with software, and I have watched it about a thousand times since. I sent it to your father, grandparents, and great-grandmother, all of whom agree that it is adorable. Your laugh is truly the greatest sound I have ever heard.<br /><br />You have eaten lots of different fruits, vegetables and cereals this month. You really love solids, and try to help me feed you. Alas, that invariably results in you flinging entire bowls of food all over the room. So far you have coated me, yourself, the sofa, my laptop, and my desk at work in Oatmeal or vegetables. I've been making all your foods myself from organic vegetables, because we realized Gerber "organic" bananas contained things like tuna oil, gelatin and several chemicals I can't pronounce (thankfully you won't eat Gerber foods). However, we discovered Earth's Best foods which don't have strange additives, and you like the Sweet Potato with Cinnamon a lot, so I have been experimenting with cinnamon in the foods I make for you. In other food news, we went with the Little Peeps to an apple-picking farm. You and Riley had a great time sitting in your strollers. Unfortunately, the organic apple farm wasn't open for picking, so instead we went to a different farm. That meant you couldn't try any of the apples we bought, so I used them to make your father some apple sauce. I did get you some apples at Atkins Farm, and made you a veggie mix with them.<br /><br />The biggest event this month was a huge, and unexpected snow storm at the end of October. You were in bed, and your father and I were watching a movie together when the lights started to flicker. Then they were out. We left you in your room as it was nice and toasty, periodically checking your thermometer. However, the electricity didn't come on after a few hours, and the house was starting to get cold, so we lit a fire and camped out as a family in the sitting room. Your father and I were quite uncomfortable, but you thought the fire was fascinating and loved that we were all together. The next day we found out that there was no chance we were getting power back any time soon, so we headed to your Grandmother's house in New Hampshire. We spent two nights there, and she was so happy to get to spend time with you that she sent your father and I out to have a meal by ourselves so that you girls could get some quality time. We had your first Hallowe'en at your Grandmother's house, and you dressed like a little lamb in a costume that I knit for you. Of course you were adorable. The night itself was so low-key, you wouldn't know it was Hallowe'en. We didn't have any other costumes or decorations, and Grandma's house was too remotely located to get any Trick-or-Treaters. However, in the areas affected by the snow, Hallowe'en was cancelled altogether!<br /><br />You now have two teeth! You weren't very fussy before your teeth came in, just a little restless the night before they arrived. Since then, we keep thinking that you have more teeth on the way. The biggest clue is the fact that you butt-scoot over to furniture so that you can gnaw on them like an otter. I say butt-scoot, because you haven't quite mastered crawling yet. You have all the components, but you're not putting them together in the right order. And, a little like your mother, when you don't get it right the first time you try, you go straight to being totally frustrated. At this point, I usually intervene and carry you to whatever you were trying to get to. I am trying to get better at letting you be frustrated in order to learn from it.<br /><br />One thing that is not causing you any frustration is learning how to talk. You love chatting away, and I often wake up to the sound of you telling yourself stories over the monitor. Your favourite sound is "dadadadada", which your father has decided means you know how to say his name. Between you and me, I have seen you call your foot, a book, the cat, and bubbles in the bathtub "dada", so if you are communicating that word, you have serious paternal identification issues. Whether or not you know his name, you are the apple of his eye. He asked me to capture you saying "dada" with my iPod, and when I sent him the video, he watched it over and over. You adore him too, you gaze at him as he walks across the room, and whenever he looks at you, your face lights up with the biggest smile I've ever seen you make. Don't worry, I know you love me too.<br /><br />Thank you for another perfect month,<br /><br />I love you, sweetie,<br /><br />Mum xxx<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBa-AwrE15s151LUMRVpgUUGZTfiAZ7cs2loS1PKsYpL6ZsMnwYh5PueZO4iSBPJNjgn0aAPMidhW63MxOn-t8c-C3-TTRkYvhp01wtx93ApkPeYgjCK-MkByndCbX55fV1XQVdFlLbmRA/s1600/DSC06227.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBa-AwrE15s151LUMRVpgUUGZTfiAZ7cs2loS1PKsYpL6ZsMnwYh5PueZO4iSBPJNjgn0aAPMidhW63MxOn-t8c-C3-TTRkYvhp01wtx93ApkPeYgjCK-MkByndCbX55fV1XQVdFlLbmRA/s400/DSC06227.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5679885896795025090" border="0" /></a>Dr. aWoWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764017235733394669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5854697006040544881.post-21061128539723483932011-10-04T10:44:00.011-04:002011-10-24T21:12:14.436-04:00Dear Daughter: Month 7Dear Vivienne,<br /><br />You are now a seven month old baby. I say this every month, but the time is whizzing by. You are developing physically and mentally at a pace I never would have expected. Even your daycare headmistress commented that your mental progress is astounding. I'm delighted that my little girl is so smart and bright.<br /><br />As you might realize as you grow older, your old mother is a little bit of a hippie, especially where child-raising philosophies are concerned. I'm really a believer in attachment parenting; I believe true independence will come from a place of security. As long as I let you know that you are loved, and safe with me, you will develop your independence yourself. However, I didn't think you were going to do it at six months of age! We had all been co-sleeping happily, though your father had asked that we start putting you in the crib when you turned 6 months old (the age that the SIDS risk plummets). I was decided that we'd co-sleep for a much longer time, maybe up to a year or so. However, the day you turned six months old you started wriggling and fussing in the bed with me. You also abruptly decided the bassinet in our bedroom was no good for you either. In an effort to find anything comfortable for you, I placed you down in your crib, at which point you promptly fell asleep for 7 hours. I miss my little co-sleeper terribly, so when you wake up at around 3am, I take you into the bed with me for the remainder of the night as you are usually too sleepy to notice.<br /><br />To make up for the loss of co-sleeping, you have reinstated a different bonding activity between us this month. For the last couple of months, you were not remotely interested in nursing during the day, because there was too much to look at. I am glad to report that you have now decided to boycott bottles in favour of nursing. This has posed a problem for your daycare minder, as well as making outings a little more challenging (compounded by your refusal to abide nursing bibs), but I couldn't care less. I love having you nurse again.<br /><br />The most momentous activity this month for you was our trip to Kansas, which marked your first flight. I was extremely nervous about flying with you, not because of the reaction of other passengers to crying, but to the idea that you would be in pain. I did lots of reading, and sought advice from many people as to how to minimize discomfort. However, it was all for nothing, as you promptly fell asleep right before each take off, and when you did awaken, you were as cheerful as always. I was given many compliments from other passengers about how well behaved you were. My personal moment of triumph was sharing a quiet cuddle with you as a two year old a few rows back was throwing the mother of all tantrums.<br /><br />Everyone in Kansas was enamoured with you. Your Great-Grandmother Melva had not seen you since you were a month old, and was thrilled to see how much development you have accomplished since then. She commented on how mentally acute you are, noting in particular your fine motor skills. I've always known you were brilliant but it's nice to have it confirmed by someone who ran a daycare for 28 years.<br /><br />Another concern about travel I had was the possibility that you would get sick. Luckily you didn't, but the week before our trip to Kansas, a stomach virus went through your daycare. You threw up a couple of times, but you never fussed and you didn't get diarrhea like the other children. Your father also caught the bug, and was knocked down for a couple of days with aches and chills. I ended up getting something between the two of you. I think you fared better because you are such a strong and happy little girl, but also because you have been nursed. I've read that being nursed lessens the frequency and severity of contagious diseases. As your father and I weren't nursed, I think we can attest to that theory.<br /><br />Your daycare is going really well. Marie, your minder, says that you are one of the sweetest children she has looked after. She also commented on how alert and bright you are, and told me that you are really social. Apparently, you stroke the other babies when they crawl by you. I've been working on teaching you to pet the cats (as opposed to grabbing wads of their fur), and I think you might have thought I was telling you to pet anything smaller than you! Marie also said that while you are sweet, you also have a good temper! I have to agree with Marie, as I have seen you get close to terrible two levels when I try to put you in the car seat, or when I fail to get your cereal quickly enough. Your Nana claims you got that from me.<br /><br />At daycare, you had your first school photo taken this month. I wasn't planning to buy anything as we take photos of you, and my friend Kristin is a great photographer, and is available to take pictures of you. However, I put you in your little "Collins Family" Sweater, and you looked so adorable that your Dad and I ended up buying one. It's very cute.<br /><br />Your biggest discovery this month is that your little jumper in fact allows you to jump. It's very sweet to watch you in it. You seem to forget that it has this property, and accordingly discover with great enthusiasm every couple of minutes that you can bounce in it.<br /><br />This month has seen a great increase in the amount and variety of solids that you are eating. You love your rice cereal and oatmeal, but your absolute favourite is bananas. You have started eating sweet potatoes and carrots, but avocados are being firmly boycotted. I have a confession to make: I've been sneaking them in with your bananas! And what better time to become interested in solids than the same month you cut your first tooth. You were a little restless one night, but not fussy at all. The next night you returned to sleeping happily, and when I dropped you off at daycare, Marie told me she had spotted your tooth the day before. I was a little sad to be reminded that in all likelihood, Marie is going to see you reach as many milestones as I do, if not more. Nevertheless, I am so blessed to be your mother, and I am delighted by how quickly you are meeting those milestones, so who gets to see them is less important.<br /><br /><br />This month has been so much fun. You are just the sweetest and happiest little girl I have ever met, and I am in awe of how quickly you are developing. I was watching you sitting up unassisted and playing with your activity mat the other day. You took the mirror I have hung from it, and angled it so that you could see yourself. Then you inspected the wings on one of the butterflies. You held part of its wing between your thumb and index finger, and there was a very certain purpose to your movements. I remembered how only months earlier, you would lie down on the same mat and flail your arms about aimlessly. It's amazing to watch your progress unfold before my eyes. I am so proud of my precious daughter.<br /><br />I love you, Beebop,<br /><br />Mum xxx<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg98MCf494wHfzKLaZHhZHv7zsL3zDdJdnCymFgrFo-F4LuckawP9S79KWqlVV9uos7A2FLqsBHRXhvfJ6QqJqDGyxyPOPkm4OLy0RCE5j87TqHa6skL35DR2AOkqPhGOGeKYup0QI_mwqF/s1600/DSC06136.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg98MCf494wHfzKLaZHhZHv7zsL3zDdJdnCymFgrFo-F4LuckawP9S79KWqlVV9uos7A2FLqsBHRXhvfJ6QqJqDGyxyPOPkm4OLy0RCE5j87TqHa6skL35DR2AOkqPhGOGeKYup0QI_mwqF/s400/DSC06136.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5667230389024812322" border="0" /></a>Dr. aWoWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764017235733394669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5854697006040544881.post-19591892987792953162011-09-16T07:57:00.009-04:002011-10-04T11:39:55.017-04:00Dear Daughter: Month 6Dear Vivienne,<br /><br />You're half a year old now! In milestones and clothing size, you're closer to a year. I have yet again filled a box with clothing sized for children older than you into a box for storage for your future sibling. At your most recent check-up, you weighed 19 lb 7 oz, and when we weighed you more recently using your bouncer and the luggage scale (your father's idea, not mine), you weighed 22 lb. <br /><br />Your reaching 22 lbs meant an emergency trip to Babies 'R Us to get you a new car seat. You seem to really like your ultra-luxurious convertible car seat, and I enjoy all the modern safety features on it. On the day of writing this section of the letter, you and I went to Deerfield to meet up with the Peeps and the Little Peeps at the Yankee Candle Flagship store. You did really well on the 30 minute car ride despite having no one in the back with you to keep you company. You napped on the way out, and we both sang along to Lady Gaga on the way home. I am so relieved that the days of you screaming in the car seem to have come to an end. <br /><br />At the Yankee Candle store, we smelled all the exciting scents of candles. You really enjoyed smelling the different aromas, and invariably, you would try to eat the candle lids. You loved the different Halloween and Christmas rooms, and I thought you would really enjoy the large pumpkin but you were asleep by the time we made it outside to where it was kept. <br /><br />The biggest vehicular achievement this month was our drive to New York. You always had someone to keep you company, but it was a long drive and you didn't cry once. Nana and Grandpa Nick had gone to New York ahead of us to spend a couple of days sightseeing, and we met up with them to spend a night at the historic Algonquin hotel. We took a lovely trip around Central Park, and walked along Fifth Avenue, stopping off for coffee at the Rockefeller Center. Nana, Grandpa Nick and your Dad went to Little Italy for dinner while you and I hung out in the hotel. Nana was worried that I was missing out on going to dinner, but I really enjoy spending time with you, and there was no feeling of being "cooped up" anywhere. The next day we went gift shopping for Nana's friends back in the UK, and then headed home. You didn't cry, but Nana and I nearly wore out our vocal cords keeping you amused. Of note was a rendition of Old MacDonald, in which the farm comprised cows, pigs, dogs, horses, donkeys, cats, mice, owls, butterflies and one bee (to name a few.... it was a long drive). <br /><br />In terms of milestones, you have had quite the month. First, you are now sitting. Earlier in the month, you were a little like a learner driver, in that you could sit until you turned to look at something, or became distracted, at which time you would invariably topple over. Now you can reliably sit up on your own, without the boppy pillow, and I've been enjoying facing you to read books, teach you how to clap, or roll a ball to you. Now that you can sit, you are getting really good at amusing yourself with toys while I get my coffee or prepare my lunch. <br /><br />The biggest achievement this month was your motility. You have been so eager to go exploring, and I can see a real determination in your eyes when you are looking at something you want to play with. Now finally you can move. There's a slight drawback; your crawling is in reverse. As a result, the more you want to get a hold of something, the further away from it you move. You find this extremely frustrating, and as much as it makes me a terrible parent to Say this, I find it a little amusing. Don't worry, I help you out long before your frustration turns to tears. <br /><br />Another big milestone this month was the introduction of solids. I had wanted to make it to 6 months before giving you solid food, but Nana would have been gone by then, so we gave you your first solids at just over 5 and a half months of age. We (meaning I) decided upon giving you organic bananas as your first solids. We had prepared a mix of bananas and milk for you, and you were eager to be fed, but Nana took so long to get downstairs that you were quite cranky by the time we started feeding you. However, one mouthful of bananas was all it took for your mood to change. You very quickly figured out how to eat from a spoon and wolfed down 2 oz of bananas. Since then, you have cheerfully eaten a portion of solids each day with no problems at all. Although, I was a little scared by the black squiggles in your poop, but some googling reassured me that it was completely normal. <br /><br />You have been extremely chatty this month. My favorite thing you've been doing is this extremely high pitched screaming noise. Your Dad calls you his little pterodactyl! I love that you are so verbose. Sometimes, you start talking about something, and you are very focused on your narrative and don't like being interrupted. Other times, you are happier to have others join in on the conversation. It's clear that (like your mother), you are enamored with your own voice. Luckily, so is everyone around you. <br /><br />We went swimming again at the Chicopee State Park, this time with Nana and Grandpa Nick. It was a nice day, but as it was the first sun we had seen in a week, the water was cooler than before. You and I stayed in the shallower water which was a bit warmer, and you were delighted because this made it easier for you to shovel sand into your mouth. You managed to get a few handfuls, but I am sorry to say your killjoy mother scooped most of it back out. <br /> <br />While this month has been yet another great month with you, there was a little sadness in that it was time for Nana to go home. I really miss having her around, and I am sure you miss her too. You two spent every week day together with no one else to spoil your bonding time. I was surprised and relieved that you recognized Nana on Skype. I had been worried that you wouldn't be able to identify people on a screen. However, once she started singing the silly "Suco Suco" song that she had been singing all summer, you beamed a big smile at her. To alleviate our missing of her, we have booked our flights home to Ireland and England for Christmas, so you will get to see your grandparents in person again soon. <br /><br />There is so much more I could add. You are developing so fast, and so much of your personality is coming through. When I look back at the pictures of your newborn days, it's really striking how much progression you have made. No wonder everyone comments on how bright and alert you are. I am also glad that your sweet affection has also grown with you. I am so blessed to have such a happy and loving child. <br /><br />I love you, darling,<br /><br />Mom xxx<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCgEoSuoekjFy0pVAvqJ9Cpx_ASfAQ4tFi-8QAvaLVsVZ_jBOzoypRR_z10T9axaDif-BVOpDj_H_kET1bQGenbVHZXq4Y7_qvmE6LHaZ50WUhZMHmWXobJbFH3VgSGG7_H374kza9UVtb/s1600/DSC06147.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCgEoSuoekjFy0pVAvqJ9Cpx_ASfAQ4tFi-8QAvaLVsVZ_jBOzoypRR_z10T9axaDif-BVOpDj_H_kET1bQGenbVHZXq4Y7_qvmE6LHaZ50WUhZMHmWXobJbFH3VgSGG7_H374kza9UVtb/s400/DSC06147.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5659661919436704498" /></a>Dr. aWoWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764017235733394669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5854697006040544881.post-33928091805354998522011-09-05T20:51:00.009-04:002011-11-27T22:24:49.325-05:00Crunchy Granola.... Less Work than You Might Expect!My husband calls me a hippie. I did the whole homebirth by hypnosis thing, I'm a vegetarian (worse, a vegan for a year), and we've been using reusable diapers upon my insistence. <br /><br />He may have a point. <br /><br />I just can't see myself as a hippie, because I remember the city-dwelling, cigarettes, vodka and nightclubs <span style="font-style:italic;">me</span> that I was as a teen and an undergrad. But, I guess I am at a minimum on the National Hippie Association's mailing list these days.<br /><br />Tipping the scales in favour of my husband's argument, I've switched to reusable wipes. Yes, yes, the environment played a pretty good role in this decision. But there were some other factors too.<br /><br />1) I was becoming increasingly concerned about what chemicals I was exposing my daughter to. We were buying the most granola of the disposable wipes that we could find, but they always felt <span style="font-style:italic;">chemical-y</span>. I was also concerned about what pesticides and fertilizers were used to grow the cotton used to make the wipes, that would not need to be listed in the ingredients.<br /><br />2) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U1caNuhgnI">Farmer's ran a commercial</a> warning of the dangers of lint fires. In all the excitement of keeping flailing feet away from a butt coated in poop, we were frequently throwing the disposable wipes into the laundry with the reusable diapers, thus sending them through a washing/drying cycle. The disposable wipes aren't designed for much other than disposing, so frequently disintegrated in the drier. This made me worry about how much lint was building up somewhere in the bowels of our drier.<br /><br />3) Economics. Pretty much the same argument as given for reusable diapers, so I'll let Google fill in this one!<br /><br />Off I went to make me some reusable wipes. If you want to really hit the economic gain, you can cut up old t-shirts, flannel sheets, or receiving blankets. However, we didn't really have any of these to spare, so I opted to buy <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Cotton-Flannel-Baby-Wipes-Reusable/dp/B001R14ZUM/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1315098532&sr=8-7">reusable wipes from Amazon</a>. After all, Amazon supplied me with the Bummis diapers that were far cheaper than other reusable diaper sets. I guess I could have bought old t-shirts from Goodwill, but who has the time?<br /><br />I looked online for wipes recipes. Most called for a mixture of water, baby oil and baby soap. The suggestion was to make this up in a spray bottle and spritz individual wipes as needed.<br /><br />Are you mental? <br /><br />I have a newborn. Haute couture spritzed wipes are for people who have lots of free time on their hands. I folded 20 or so wipes into a tuperware container, dumped the mixture on them, and looked forward to the smug satisfaction that comes with doing hippie things like reusing baby wipes. All was well until the third day of using the wipes. During a change, I opened the tupperware wipes container, and the smell competed with the one in my daughter's diaper. Evidently, the recipe I was using did not afford me any antibacterial protection for my wipes.<br /><br />I visited the hippie mecca of baby stores, Cradle in Northampton, and picked up a bottle of "MotherHerb Make Your Own Wipes Solution Concentrate" (basically a blend of Tea Tree and Lavender oils). It calls for 20 drops to a couple of cups of water, and does prevent anything from getting stinky. However, I didn't feel it had the same cleaning power than my previous mixture had. So, I have come up with my hybrid recipe.<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">My Reusable Wipes Recipe</span><br />To a flat sandwich tupperware, I add about 3 cups of water.<br />Then I squirt in about 2 tablespoons each of Johnson's Baby Oil and Johnson's baby bath.<br />I add 20 drops/1 ml of baby wipe solution.<br />I shut the container tightly, shake it about until all is mixed and the soap is bubbly.<br />I add 20-30 folded wipes slowly until all the mixture is absorbed, et voila, enough wipes to last about 3 days... and no stinkiness!Dr. aWoWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764017235733394669noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5854697006040544881.post-57325864766902869802011-09-03T19:17:00.004-04:002011-09-13T21:54:58.096-04:00Dear Daughter: Five MonthsDear Vivienne,<br /><br />I can't believe my little girl is already five months old. It doesn't seem like a big age, but looking back at your earlier photos, your newborn days seem an eon ago. This month it has been evident that you are definitely not a newborn anymore! You are so active and alert, and you have been extremely interested in the world around you. It's amazing how much you have changed in this relatively short time. So many of the things you found comforting, interesting or funny no longer work anymore. For instance, you used to think it was hilarious to have me tease you with your pacifier, now you look at me with confusion and ennui when I do that. <br /><br />That's not to say that you don't find things funny. I am so happy that my little girl is filled with mirth. You find fart noise hilarious, you respond to being tickled or repetitively kissed on your tummy with loud bouts of laughter. You are also such a smiley and generally happy girl. When you wake up at night, you rarely let me know you're awake or hungry by crying. Instead you trust that I will awaken of my own accord, and keep yourself amused in the meantime. When I come over to the bassinet to pick you up, I am greeted by a huge smile. Coming home in the evenings is also a huge pleasure. You had been giving me huge smiles in previous months, which you still do. But now, it's even sweeter, because you reach out to me, and give me a big kiss on my cheek. Your method of kissing is to open your mouth wide and deposit saliva onto my face, but it's adorable, and I love how affectionate you are becoming. <br /><br />Your sweetness has now extended into your nightly routine. You were never a "fussy" baby, but recently, putting you to bed has become my favourite part of the day. After I change you, read you a story, and perhaps nurse you, we lie on my bed holding hands and smiling at each other until you fall asleep. It's such a peaceful and beautiful bonding experience for us at the end of each day. I know it's not healthy to believe one's child is truly perfect, but as I gaze at you after you have just fallen asleep, I am at a loss to find anything imperfect about you. However, ask and ye shall receive, as they say. We've had a definite roller-coaster with your sleeping this month. Earlier in the month, you hit the "4 month regression". Nana Mary says there is no such thing, but as I am walking you around the bedroom at 5am for the third straight hour, I would beg to differ. Thankfully, while stubbornly refusing to sleep, you are happy and playful, just at a terrible time of the day. Whoever said of parenting "The days are long but the years are short", neglected to mention that the nights can be long too! <br /><br />This month, we have had a lot of outings. We have twice gone swimming with the "Peeps and the Little Peeps" (Riley's Mommy's name for our pregnancy group). We went to the Ludlow pond with Sean and his parents. I managed to get your toes into the water before you protested enough that I took you back to the beach. Our second swimming trip, this time to the Chicopee State Park, was much more of a success. In between the two trips I had found a inflatable car with matching canopy for you to paddle in. You were so busy gnawing at the handle like a beaver that you didn't seem to mind being in the water! We also played in the shallow water together (without floating distractions), and you managed to get a fistful of sand into your mouth. <br /><br />We also have taken a lot of trips with Nana Mary. I think her favourite has been to the Bridge of Flowers. I was thrilled to discover that you will now let me carry you in a wrap. I was able to do so when you were tiny, but as you became more alert, you hated facing inward. Now you are big and strong enough to turn yourself and look outwards. That said, your interest in the Bridge of Flowers was nothing compared to how much you enjoyed the next day's outing to the mall. Let me tell you now, I will not allow you to be some loitering mall rat in your teen years, so I suggest you learn to love the outdoors. <br /><br />Up until recently, you and the cats enjoyed a mutual disinterest in one another. However, you are now fascinated by them, and seem hellbent on grabbing them by the fur, something I doubt they will enjoy. I've been trying to teach you how to pet a cat, but that involves watching both your little hands like a hawk for signs of a fist-forming motion. The lessons are usually curtailed by the cats excusing themselves. <br /><br />I think babies are meant to double their weight in six months, but always advanced you did it in five! You now weigh 19lbs and 7 oz; no wonder Nana's back is giving out. As you have been nursed exclusively until very recently, I am not concerned that their is any obesity in that weight, just proof of what a healthy girl you are. I say recently, because now that I am back at work, I have to pump milk to bring home to you. Expressing milk has been very successful, however, I am not able to keep up with your appetite. With Mommy;s milk alone, you were eating up to 30 ounces while I was at work, whereas I was happy to express 20! So, much to my chagrin, we have supplemented you with formula! Speaking of nursing, you are breaking your Mama's heart (a claim I will no doubt make numerous times throughout your life). As part of your desire to explore the world and see all their is to see, you refuse to nurse during the day anymore. You also refuse to be held while being bottle-fed, so we sit you in a chair and feed you like a hamster. It's pretty cute, actually. And thankfully, you cheerfully nurse at night, so we still have our time to bond. <br /><br />As Nana spends such a large amount of time with you during the weekdays, I thought you'd like to hear from her this month too:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Dear Vivienne Marie<br /><br />I have deferred writing this letter because you have kept me so busy<br />looking after you - a total joy for me, I might add - but also because<br />writing it meant that I was coming near the end of my stay with you.<br />You are now five months and almost three weeks old! I shall be going<br />back to England with Grandpa Nick on Monday and my heart breaks at the<br />thought of leaving you.<br /><br />But what a month it was! When I arrived you were just three months<br />and 13 days old; an infant really and I was almost scared of holding<br />you in case you would break! You were a fine, healthy baby but a baby<br />nonethless and it had been some time since I had cared for such a<br />little creature.<br /><br />At four months, however, you seemed to take a leap forward, almost<br />literally. You were already rolling over from back to tummy but now I<br />saw this done vice versa (I think you'd done it for Mom already) and<br />still more exciting, you began to try to crawl. Each day we had<br />'tummy time' where you would go on your tummy and I would hold you up<br />to help you get the idea of crawling. Although you never quite made<br />it forwards in this month, you did manage to move backwards;<br />frustratingly for you, this meant moving AWAY from whatever toy I had<br />put out for you as an enticement.<br /><br />You also moved about much more in my arms, on the floor, in your<br />rocker, in your pushchair. Indeed, such was your movement in your<br />pushchair that I was scared you could propel yourself out the front of<br />the stroller if I didn' take good care to watch you! As the month<br />progressed, you became able to sit on your own on the floor (though I<br />was ready to support you, if needs be). You loved your new Dr Death<br />chair because it allowed you to swivel about to play with your toys<br />and towards the end of the month you also sat in your little suspended<br />chair which allowed you to turn about and view what was going on in<br />the kitchen AND the playroom. You allowed me to prepare some meals<br />for your mom and dad and you were never unhappy. If you got a little<br />fed up with something, a cuddle from me always fixed it. I can<br />honestly say (without offending your mom or your Uncle Ben) that I<br />have never met such a pleasant and happy little baby.<br /><br />You developed your other motor skills too. The xylophone was a daily<br />pleasure for us and you played it lustily on one occasion banging out<br />doh ray me (or it may have been me ray doh). Whatever, it was a huge<br />pleasure for me to hear you play. You also turned the pages of your<br />books with great facility (something your darling Mom taught you) and<br />you were now able to take off each one of your stacking rings and<br />often to replace one or two of them on the stacker too!<br /><br />You showed huge interest in everything; from the little mobile above<br />your swing (and the musical one in your crib) to the smell of herbs<br />which we nose tested together, to the feel of cold water on your hand<br />from the tap to the sights and sounds in the garden and on our<br />increasingly longer walks. One thing you didn't bother with however,<br />except when you were bored and/or sated, was holding your bottle. Why<br />bother when you had a willing slave (two when grandpa Nick arrived) to<br />do it for you? Together we survived an earthquake and later (with Mom<br />Dad and Grandpa Nick) a hurricane.<br /><br />The development that was perhaps most exciting for me was your newly<br />discovered love of 'language'. Despite my persistent inability to<br />remember the sign language we learnt for you last month, you seemed<br />really to understand when I offered more bottle or told you I was<br />going to change your nappy. And the 'words' you spoke were like the<br />sweetest symphony to my ears. There was one day when we went to<br />Walmart with your Dad and you made loud 'AAAAAHHHH; sounds all the way<br />around. These were perhaps a comment on Walmart? Then another day<br />you would say 'bub' or 'ba' and one magical day it seemed to me that<br />you were repeating the A and B and even M sounds I made to you. How I<br />loved talking to you. We could spend half an hour or more at a time<br />repeating sounds to each other and I know you are going to be an early<br />talker - another sign of what I think will be your formidable<br />intelligence. Keep talking my darling and as long as I am around I<br />will always listen. Your voice is one of the sweetest memories I will<br />bring back to England with me. Yes, including the screaming sounds<br />you learnt to make at around five months!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjku2tnlE1v5oepOtBNyJjVLz3lGXpHBxjUONME_sSTJ0p5cX9_Xsj1d0E8DzHC1IZky4EMf06W5y-aS3lFrJkfSXPtP4ww0dy-w87TV1bknB_0K7K_D016LxsNJqqA19wb_5sq0eVdNbFn/s1600/P1030700.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjku2tnlE1v5oepOtBNyJjVLz3lGXpHBxjUONME_sSTJ0p5cX9_Xsj1d0E8DzHC1IZky4EMf06W5y-aS3lFrJkfSXPtP4ww0dy-w87TV1bknB_0K7K_D016LxsNJqqA19wb_5sq0eVdNbFn/s400/P1030700.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652026186172389090" /></a><br /><br />Your Mom has written about our trip to the Bridge of Flowers and the<br />lake at Chicopee, and I will always treasure those memories, but for<br />me, the sweetest times were when it was just you and me. Your ready<br />smile when you woke from your sleeps; the kisses you began to give me,<br />the foot massages I gave you, yourlaughter when I sang 'Ai ai the beat<br />is crazy/Zucko, zucko is everywhere....' I love that you love and are<br />amused by words and songs.<br /><br />When Grandpa Nick arrived you were five months old and the dynamic<br />between us changed as you welcomed another man into your life. You<br />took to Grandpa Nick as he did to you. Our walks became longer (he<br />could carry the stroller over rugged terrain on the way to Big Y) and<br />you laughed at the silly faces he made and the silly voices he put on<br />for your entertainment. It was a great help to me too, because by now<br />you were 20 lbs and VERY heavy to carry. But you know what? I didn't<br />care that my back was sore and my knees didn't allow me to get up so<br />quickly from the floor when I changed your diaper. The bond you have<br />allowed me to make with you my most precious granddaughter is one that<br />will never be broken and if, when I return, you don't quite remember<br />me, still there will always be an invisible bond between us because of<br />the time I was privileged to spend with you when you were growing<br />faster than perhaps you ever will; and learning faster too.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0_L_K4RuSEe4emx2B2n6Ki8chiLtwDJ_LuIqxxk-oW_4AyhMx1iXZ65jfJOjeenZbv9dDUOkT5z6OBytMhuSJi33Gamm-ZTcpiAFuBocKrgOJgbw2imOTBEvk1NebF2lJ2UwKzZ_J6Td/s1600/Snapshot_20110805_1.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0_L_K4RuSEe4emx2B2n6Ki8chiLtwDJ_LuIqxxk-oW_4AyhMx1iXZ65jfJOjeenZbv9dDUOkT5z6OBytMhuSJi33Gamm-ZTcpiAFuBocKrgOJgbw2imOTBEvk1NebF2lJ2UwKzZ_J6Td/s400/Snapshot_20110805_1.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5652026187925710866" /></a><br /><br />You are now longer an infant; you are a five (and a half) month old<br />baby girl now and you are lucky to have such a wonderful mom and dad<br />to take care of you. But even they haven't shared what we have had<br />and the memory of our time together will live with me (and yes, wilth<br />you too, even if only as a kind of body memory). For me, it has been<br />one of the most precious times of my life and I will never forget it<br />or stop loving you, my most beloved granddaughter. May you continue to<br />journey happily and safely through life.<br /><br />With all my love, always,<br /><br />Nana xxxxx<br />PS you started not to want to sleep in your swing and the second pic<br />shows us both taking a nap together on the bed in the basement (after<br />grandpa Nick's arrival)</span><br /><br />I love you Princess,<br /><br />Mum xxx <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf4Fbx0rZtG04_LYtjUJI84v13ut7-QTE0BTIO3ZzLQ8ZKzktzVnhvipXu1lrdkTZAb0Yb-TWvY3dxe2h_pZv2AbvPDD6-mrHWVE6802Gf6nrU71uNq-1hSk7wqf8B5ZSUwDJveYRrh4gO/s1600/DSC06064.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf4Fbx0rZtG04_LYtjUJI84v13ut7-QTE0BTIO3ZzLQ8ZKzktzVnhvipXu1lrdkTZAb0Yb-TWvY3dxe2h_pZv2AbvPDD6-mrHWVE6802Gf6nrU71uNq-1hSk7wqf8B5ZSUwDJveYRrh4gO/s400/DSC06064.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5648277179840056322" /></a>Dr. aWoWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764017235733394669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5854697006040544881.post-61270763097710667492011-06-28T20:14:00.011-04:002011-07-21T22:37:46.915-04:00Dear Daughter: Four MonthsDear Vivienne,<br /><br />What a great month this has been! You have made some serious leaps and bounds in development. You're making great strides in rolling this month. One morning early in the month, you rolled from your back to your front while we were hanging out in bed together. I'm not counting it as the first official back to front roll, because you were lying on an incline (caused by Mom's weight depressing the mattress... *ahem*). Nevertheless, I was really proud of you, and you seemed quite chuffed with yourself too! Since then, you have done bona fide rolls all one your own! From what I understand, most babies roll from their fronts to their backs first. However, you so loathed tummy-time until very recently that I doubt we'll see that maneuver for a while. Besides, you have such great muscle strength that I am not worried. Nowadays, as a refreshing alternative to screaming, you use your tummy-time to practice crawling. Nana predicts that it won't be long before that happens. You've become really good at taking the pacifier out of your mouth, and you've started trying to pick it up and put in back into your mouth. You definitely know what it involves, but it needs some fine tuning, though you have had a few successes to date. It's very tempting for me to do it for you, but it's important to let you learn, so I resist the urge. You are grabbing everything: toys, bottles, necklaces, blankets. The world has definitely caught your attention as something that needs to be explored, and you love standing up to look around, touching anything you can get your hands on, and best of all, putting things into your mouth. <br /><br />My very favourite thing about this month has been your laughter. The first time I heard you laugh, I was playing <span style="font-style:italic;">This Little Piggy</span> with you. We'd played it before, but this time you cracked up laughing. It was the best sound I have ever heard in my life. However, you are no simpleton, and things do not amuse you multiple times, so I have to find new ways of eliciting your laughter. Nana has made you laugh too, and agrees that there is no sweeter sound. <br /><br />You have gotten a lot better in the car. I still don't take you anywhere that involves more than ten or twenty minutes of driving without someone else in the car, but when you have company, you do really well. We were able to take you all the way to Parsippany. NJ, for the 2011 Star Trek convention. You were a definite hit with the other nerds, and you won a $25 gift certificate for dressing up as a Star Trek Voyager ensign. We've also done lots of traveling with our Mom's group this month. We went to the mall, the Springfield museums and our first trip to the zoo. You are so alert these days that it is a lot of fun to take you places (on previous outings you invariably fell asleep as soon as we left the house). <br /><br />This month has been a little hard on me, as I am back to work full time now. Before Nana arrived, you went to daycare three days a week, and I was working part time. I really miss our four-day weekends together. However, as much as I miss you, I am happier leaving you at home with Nana than sending you to daycare. To be fair, your daycare minder, Maria, is wonderful. She commented that you have the most advanced cognitive and motor skills she's seen in a baby your age. However, she is nothing compared to all the love and attention you are getting from Nana. She is just in love with you, and you have taken to her in a huge way. She's making a huge effort to read to you, sing to you, hold you, and give you everything you need. When I get home she's generally exhausted, but also delighted to get this time with you. I am very nervous about how hard it's going to be for her to leave you in September. <br /><br />You're getting so big! Last month we took the sling out of your bath, and you outgrew the bassinet, so you've been sleeping in the pack'n'play. This month I packed away all the 7-15 lb diapers; you're officially in the large diapers. We had your four month check up and you weighed in at 17lbs, and 26.5"!!! You've almost doubled your weight in four months, as opposed to the average six. I'm not surprised. With Nana, you were getting through up to 30oz of milk during the workday alone! <br /><br />Everyone notices what a perfect baby you are. You are rarely fussy, always smiling and extremely engaged in the world around you. Adding to your perfection is the fact that you are about the cutest thing I have ever seen. We documented that cuteness by having our friend, Kristin, around to do a photo shoot. She is an amazing photographer, and we we got loads of wonderful pictures of you. We're going to have at least one framed for your nursery. Luckily, you have managed to keep our feet on the ground by fussing occasionally, and usually with good cause, such as having just received and immunization shot. Also, you were the spit-up queen until recently, but I have noticed a definite improvement on that front. I had gotten used to going to work with white splotches down one or both shoulders. It doesn't bother you in the slightest, in fact I sometimes think you enjoy waiting until I've left the house without a burp cloth before coating both yourself and me in curdled milk. Speaking of conspiracy theories, you definitely wait for your diaper to be changed before pooping. This happens so frequently that I usually have two clean diapers beside me for each changing, and once I have changed you the first time, I sit and wait to hear the tell-tale sounds letting me know I need to change you again!<br /><br />For the entire time you've been alive, I have made ridiculous expectations of myself as a mother. I feel guilt any time I place you down, even on your playmate which is good for your mental development, or your swing when you need to take a nap. I think I am a terrible mother whenever I take the time to check emails, or catch myself wishing that you would nap for a couple more minutes so that I can finish my lunch. I've also come to the conclusion that I need to retract my promise to not worry too much. I worry all the time. I worry about things that might happen now, things that could happen in the future, and these worries cover the full spectrum of eventualities. I have come to the conclusion that motherhood is a specific type of hypervigilance disorder. So, I replace the former promise with the promise to do everything in my power to keep you safe and happy, and to make your life the very best I can. And of course, to love you with all my heart. <br /><br />I love you, Princess,<br /><br />Mum xxx<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRiYrQeWeX68dSq-ZDIBJwegMxSFNuvECjryhnzc0QTvZ_nCi_wox49COt69-cqZolAD3R-a0mWQ_oUfV3kwRa_TLmuc4DpHrJUDaud6sAwmJppdmO-iLfQTfhyhKoo7eL1a8d4WYfNBBG/s1600/DSC_0289.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRiYrQeWeX68dSq-ZDIBJwegMxSFNuvECjryhnzc0QTvZ_nCi_wox49COt69-cqZolAD3R-a0mWQ_oUfV3kwRa_TLmuc4DpHrJUDaud6sAwmJppdmO-iLfQTfhyhKoo7eL1a8d4WYfNBBG/s400/DSC_0289.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631991973561711570" /></a>Dr. aWoWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764017235733394669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5854697006040544881.post-25667899212482042172011-05-31T21:19:00.011-04:002011-06-28T18:26:04.710-04:00Dear Daughter: Three MonthsDear Vivienne,<br /><br />It's already been three months since you came into our lives. We've been quite busy as a family this month. You in particular have been very busy, because on top of all the places I take you, and activities we enjoy, you're growing and developing at an amazing pace. You continue to be more and more alert, and you have also started chatting and telling little stories, which I could listen to all day long.<br /><br />You've started grabbing at things and exploring the tactile world around you. Your favorite things to explore at the moment are knitted blankets and t-shirts with bright and contrasting colours. You've also started sucking on your hands, and on occasion you do so while bringing knitting blankets to your face. Your mother was a proud "blankie" owner, and it seems like you will carry on that tradition! You are extremely alert, and you have taken a particular interest in gazing into mirrors. I love staring at you too, so I understand the appeal!<br /><br />A big change for us has been my return to work. Until Nana Mary gets here at the start of July, I am only working 3 days a week, and you are attending daycare. Your minder, Marie, is wonderful and you are getting great reports on what a happy and lovely baby you are. However, you did have one rough day last week. This was because you got your second round of vaccinations, and I (having missed you all day) allowed you to stay up too late. I made sure to get you to bed on time that night, and you did brilliantly the next day.<br /><br />The cats are still largely apathetic to your presence. They don't come to you, nor do they run away from you. If you are being particularly loud, or you make a sudden noise, they simply get up and walk out of the room in protest. The latter particularly applies to Buttons, who is a big fan of his peace and quiet. The only indication resentment from the cats has been the destruction of some papers I wanted to keep for you. I collected all my prenatal medical records and birthing class materials that I thought might be fun for you to look through some day. I left them in a box in the basement while I rounded up other documents, such as greeting cards from your baby shower. I walked into the room where I had stored the box, only to be overpowered by the stench of cat pee! I prayed that they had peed on anything else in that room, but I had a sinking feeling that I knew what the urinary target had been. I was able to salvage a few things at the bottom of the box, but the majority was destroyed. The cats have been summarily banned from that room, and many people have suggested that this was no accident, but rather a vendetta!<br /><br />Unlike the cats, your Uncle Ben was delighted by your arrival. He came to spend a week with us and he loved getting to know you. He was wonderful in taking care of you and you really took to him. We visited New Hampshire with Ben, and he fired some guns with your Grandpa. His visit was timed after his initial training with the British Army, and the start of basic training, so your Grandpa's guns probably paled in comparison to the assault rifles he'd been shooting the week before! Ben was absolultey in love with you, and we are looking forward to many visits as you grow up!<br /><br />This month marked you and your Dad's first Father's Day together. You bought him a "World's Best Dad" mug, and you wrote him a nice little card. Your handwriting looked a lot like your Mom's this month! I dressed you in a KU T-Shirt that was a gift from people your Dad knows, and you posed for pictures with your Dad. I know he was thrilled to have a little KU fan greet him with pancakes when he came home from Tennis.<br /><br />We have continued to meet with the mother's group, and we had our official reunion. We took an adorable picture of all the babies in a big circle on the floor. You and one of the other babies, Connor, held hands all the way through the photo shoot, and kept looking over at one another and even tried to roll to one another. His mother and I joke that he was your little boyfriend!<br /><br />We've now started another month (you're so active I am finding it hard to get these letters written on time!), and you are already making great achievements for me to write about. I am so proud of you, and so very in love with you. I've said it before, but I don't know how on earth I am so lucky that I get to be your Mom.<br /><br />I love you,<br /><br />Mum.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-JKLpjAszdjcdLoxzwqEhPX_9pIYE9rwl_D96n3cxpQaHPdm42VjEefYYrfs8H36EhdR86sJDR6AHxhefLMJ-sdkXMXjUh78UIvL5KNUCIdqQ_-Uo4F2Q_er3hHgmNfmRghxQ6v1p5rRo/s1600/DSC05909.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-JKLpjAszdjcdLoxzwqEhPX_9pIYE9rwl_D96n3cxpQaHPdm42VjEefYYrfs8H36EhdR86sJDR6AHxhefLMJ-sdkXMXjUh78UIvL5KNUCIdqQ_-Uo4F2Q_er3hHgmNfmRghxQ6v1p5rRo/s400/DSC05909.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5623400025173470546" /></a>Dr. aWoWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06020077523939400539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5854697006040544881.post-90322884943819960792011-05-10T10:44:00.012-04:002011-05-31T20:50:05.669-04:00Dear Daughter: Two MonthsDear Vivienne,<br /><br />It seems like only yesterday that you arrived, but two months have passed already. I can't believe that over two thirds of my maternity leave are already done. You and I have been quite busy this month, so I guess time flew because we were having fun.<br /><br />Your personality is coming through quite a bit. You are as stubborn as a mule where car seats, being dressed, and swaddling are concerned. I finally got around to doing the "Baby's First* Handprint" that I bought before you were born. I had pictured a idyllic scene of mother and child capturing moments in time together, as opposed to the nightmare that transpired of you screaming and crying, kicking me in the face with an ink covered foot, and refusing to unfurl your hand. In the end, I got a nice foot print, and chose the best of about twenty amorphous smears for your handprint.<br /><br />Despite being stubborn, you are also extremely sweet. You have started smiling, and your perfect little smile makes my day. Most recently, when we're in bed in the nursery, you stare over my shoulder with such wonder at the monkey decals and smile at them. I'm sure that we picked the right theme for decoration when I see how much enjoyment you get out of them. I should mention that this is usually at midnight, because, unlike your Centering Pregnancy friends, you refuse to sleep until 1am. That said, you've recently started sleeping for seven hours at a time, which makes me very happy! I'm less thrilled about your daytime napping. You don't do much of it, and what little you do must occur in my arms, a baby carrier, or moving stroller. If I so much as think of sitting down or placing you in a bassinet so that I can eat or shower, your eyes spring open and the nap is over. However, with less than a month of bonding time left, I'm happy to give you all the cuddles you need!<br /><br />As well as being sweet, you are not very fussy at all. In fact, you fuss so little that I (a neurotic worrier) became convinced you had SIPA. A spot of Googling later, and I learned that your ability to sweat means that you do no have SIPA (hence that "A"). Your father was amused that I was complaining that you don't fuss enough!<br /><br />Your physical development is continuing to amaze me. Last month, you were holding your head up for as long as you wanted (something you should be starting to achieve this month!), and wowing everyone with your alertness. This month we noticed that your legs are strong enough to allow you to stand when held for balance. Your eyesight has improved enough to allow you to enjoy your crib mobile and play-mat, which in turn has allowed my ability to eat and shower to improve!<br /><br />This month, we've taken a number of trips to friends houses, shopping centers, nature preserves, and spent time outdoors close to home. I've really tried to stimulate your learning by showing you different things, but you have no idea that we've ever left the house because you can't seem to stay awake in Moby wraps or strollers.<br /><br />As well as leaving the house, we've had many visitors to the house. Your Great-Grandmother, Grandfather, Step-Grandmother ("Scranny") and Uncle Sam have all spent time with us, and they're all in love with you. Between the smiles and lack of fussiness, you've been the perfect little hostess. Next month, Uncle Ben and your Nana will be visiting! It's been so wonderful having people I love come to help out. I've especially loved having so many generations of my family under one roof. I hope it's the first of many visits from our family.<br /><br />This month was also my first Mother's day. You gave me a darling little card, and your handwriting looks suspiciously similar to your Father's. It was so momentous for me to be a mother, as I have longed to be for so many years, on Mother's day. I am still so overwhelmed by how lucky I am that I get to be your Mummy. I am more in love with you than I would have thought possible. Thank you for being my daughter.<br /><br />Love,<br /><br />Mum xxx<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCsCXE4fqpcXaGqDnNkDU33p7BohXSDydIUN3Q_N79fIyS0M3_FNRUcdfagjLrFNvYqbX-DS866hfHFfrM2kPLvQMR4FWR63b-B2nLC5PQGVQAWvAK2hbf-AbRajfALfB7BFp9rq-3CpQ/s1600/DSC05766.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCsCXE4fqpcXaGqDnNkDU33p7BohXSDydIUN3Q_N79fIyS0M3_FNRUcdfagjLrFNvYqbX-DS866hfHFfrM2kPLvQMR4FWR63b-B2nLC5PQGVQAWvAK2hbf-AbRajfALfB7BFp9rq-3CpQ/s400/DSC05766.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5613044636977549026" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">* = this better be the last time anyone is forcefully taking your fingerprints, Young Lady!</span>Dr. aWoWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764017235733394669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5854697006040544881.post-48452204049013765912011-05-03T17:53:00.008-04:002011-05-10T14:06:41.038-04:00Three Years in the FailingSad news. I failed in my challenge to make 10 knitted or crocheted items from 10 books in 1000 days. I just checked the timer on my blog's homepage and realized that it ended somewhat unceremoniously yesterday*. Oops. I got to within 1 project of success when there were 48 days left. I chose to make a pair of socks using the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/lizzy-knits/8-stitches-per-inch-socks"><span style="font-style: italic;">8 Stitches per Inch Socks</span></a> pattern by Ann Budd. This was more than enough time to finish a pair of socks, at least now that I have learnt how to do continental knitting. However, as I was coming to the end of my pregnancy, I needed to prioritize my knitting, and a <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/lizzy-knits/babys-texture-blanket-2">patchwork blanket</a> I was making for my daughter was more important. As it happens, I didn't get the blanket completed before the baby arrived, but my attempts to do so caused me to fail in my 10 things challenge. The socks are now on hiatus, but the blanket it almost complete. If my daughter enjoys the blanket, I will consider it a sacrifice worth making and wait until the next knitting challenge to see success.<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">*It was yesterday when I started composing this post.</span></span>Dr. aWoWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764017235733394669noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5854697006040544881.post-50178728678723352152011-04-20T11:51:00.003-04:002011-04-21T21:23:25.033-04:00Dear Daughter: One MonthDear Vivienne,<br /><br />A month ago you came into our lives. I've already documented the amazing experience that was your birth, and everything since then has been equally amazing. After you arrived at home, we went by ambulance to the hospital. At a mere 15 minutes old, you had started breastfeeding, and I knew you were going to be an advanced baby. We spent one night in the uncomfortable and sterile hospital room, with constant interruptions and some painful heel pricks for you. But you were happy as soon as they were done, and we got to take you home the next day with top marks for your health.<br /><br />The next two nights were rough to say the least. We hadn't yet figured out each other's rhythms, and I wasn't swaddling you because I thought it was cruel to restrain your arms at night. Also, my milk hadn't come in and as a 9lb 7oz baby, you weren't getting what you needed from colustrum. On the third night, my milk had come in, and I swaddled you, and you went from howling all night, to sleeping so long that I had to wake you for feeding. The next day we all felt like a million bucks, and although we had always loved you, we now had the energy to enjoy you too.<br /><br />Your sleeping success hit a snag when you went through your three week growth spurt. It felt like someone had taken my lovely, non-fussing baby away and replaced her with a rapacious locust. For about four days, you nursed constantly, spat up and cried. I was close to my wit's end, but after googling growth spurts, I felt better about it as a normal stage of development. Last night, you fed for a few hours before going asleep, but then slept for 5 hours so I feel confident that we are getting back to normal.<br /><br />Speaking of Google, I am reminded that I need to apologize for failing to meet my promise to keep the neurotic worrying to a minimum. I have spent much of the last month worrying about every little thing you do, and turning to Google, WebMD, TheBump or other resources to assure myself that you are perfectly healthy. I won't begin to list the various conditions that I have convinced myself you are suffering from, but I am happy to say that you are in perfect health, and as time has progressed I am feeling more confident about my parenting skills' ability to keep you that way. I should mention that we have had our first family trip to the emergency room. I bumped your head as I was walking through a doorway. I panicked and called the pediatrician, but as it was close to midnight the answering service sent us to the ER. You were alert, nursing and showing no unusual signs, so the doctor diagnosed me as being a first-time mom. He also advised your Dad against uttering the words, "I told you so." Smart doctor!<br /><br />Moms are always biased, so I will share other people's opinions of you instead. We've been told over and over that you have perfect features. Your head has a beautiful shape and your skin has a lovely tone. This is likely owing to the speed at which you were born, meaning you didn't get subjected to "molding" or the other injuries of childbirth. You have been incredibly alert compared to babies your age, and lots of people have commented on that. Your Nana Mary has availed of your alertness via daily Skype conversations and loves how responsive you are. We've also chatted with your Granddad, Step-grandmother, Uncles Sam and Ben, and Summer the puppy online. I've tried to spend your active time reading books and listening to classical music. Your Dad thinks I am silly, but I want you to have the best start, and it's a better use of my time than watching <span style="font-style: italic;">Desperate Housewives</span> reruns on Netflix.<br /><br />You have begun to show signs of smiling. You gave your Dad a huge beaming smile, but that was when you were only a couple of weeks old so no one believes us. I saw it, so I know it was more than gas. Since then you have smiled at the ceiling fan, your Dad some more, the monkey decals in your bedroom, and your musical elephant toy. No smiles for Mom as of yet, but I am your patient servant!<br /><br />You have had a number of visitors already. Your Great-grandmother was the first to stay at the house, and you two got along so well that your father and I were able to spend some time together and run errands. Your next visitor is your Grandfather and Uncle Sam who are coming over from Ireland tomorrow. Then, Uncle Ben hopes to come visit but we have to see how his Army training schedule goes. Finally, Nana Mary is going to stay with us for a couple of months after my maternity leave ends so that you don't have to go to daycare too early. We also had a playdate with the Moms and babies from the centering pregnancy group I attended. We're going to make a regular meeting of it, and it was wonderful getting to show you off, and to meet my friends' little babies.<br /><br />Although it has only been a month, I still can't believe you are here. I was warned by many mothers, including my own, how wholly and completely I would fall in love with you, but they failed miserably to describe fully the intensity of the love that comes with motherhood. I find myself spending large amounts of time gazing at you like and idiot. I really have become fascinated by this perfect little life that I have here, and how my purpose has become to keep your life as perfect as possible. Despite the sleep-deprivation, being pooped, peed and vomited on, and being omitted from the smiling, this last month has been the best of my life. I have loved getting to know you and I can't wait to see you and your personality grow. Thank you for letting me be your Mom.<br /><br />I love you, Princess,<br /><br />Mum<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5DNnL68VB73q7mXe-ix1vvMgjErclkbrYdFVu80IS9NyXI79RpRSD5dxSt8kmPoribla85vD_3yAB2RPqhYq2JrDUTySlUgfLjK0Bfcl6n7FHYZl-7eLGVtBpcyRG8HUl4W9tgv-Cn4D1/s1600/DSC05531.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5DNnL68VB73q7mXe-ix1vvMgjErclkbrYdFVu80IS9NyXI79RpRSD5dxSt8kmPoribla85vD_3yAB2RPqhYq2JrDUTySlUgfLjK0Bfcl6n7FHYZl-7eLGVtBpcyRG8HUl4W9tgv-Cn4D1/s400/DSC05531.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5597500813772427682" border="0" /></a>Dr. aWoWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764017235733394669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5854697006040544881.post-82991780986403370102011-03-22T13:27:00.005-04:002011-03-23T22:45:12.653-04:00Birth StoryThis Sunday, our little girl joined our family. Her birth was an amazing and, by all accounts, unique experience, and enough people have asked to hear it that I thought I would document it here (Facebook limits characters in posts!). There's a moderate amount of labour details in this post, so be warned if you don't like reading that kind of stuff.<br /><br />First some background: Before we got pregnant, I knew that I wanted to have a natural birth. I had decided on this for a number of reasons, but the benefits to my child were the main motivation. I was also looking forward to having a profound birthing experience with my husband and child, which I have learned anecdotally comes best with natural births. To prepare for this goal, we did a lot of things but the main preparations were a Hypnobirthing course that my husband I took, and reading "The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Childbirth and Labour" by Stephanie Goer. Both of these resources suggesting writing a detailed birth plan for both yourself and your health care providers. We wrote out all our wishes concerning medical interventions, the delivery, how people treat us at the hospital etc. However, hospitals have set protocols, and health care providers are humans with their own opinions, so there's only so much a birth plan can control. This was something that weighed on me as the pregnancy progressed, and I learned about certain things that I would not be able to negotiate. <br /><br />Another issue that crept up was the risk of being induced. I had made it to term with no sign of going into labour. At my 40 week appointment, I was told that the standard practice is to induce by 42 weeks. I had to book a biophysical foetal profile at 41 weeks (which allowed us to see Vivienne on Ultrasound, so that was good), and a stress test for the middle of the next week. If I had made it to the stress test, I would have booked the induction at that appointment. At this point, I was 41 weeks and 2 days pregnant, so time was really running out for a naturally occurring labour. My resistance to being induced is also lengthy, but briefly, it can harm the child, and the chances of a natural labour plummet. We were basically being faced with the option of 1) rejecting medical advice and going it alone, either a birthing center that we would have to track down in a matter of days or at home, with a homebirth midwife, which we would have to hire by the birth, or 2) foregoing our wishes for the labour and doing what the medical profession told us to. Neither option was particularly appealing, so we went into overdrive of trying to get labour to start. I solicited wives-tales from friends on Facebook, read internet forums and asked my Doula and midwife. I followed them all at least once, but the main attempts were lots of Evening Primrose Oil, exercise, and spicy foods. <br /><br />On Saturday, we went on a 3 mile trail around the Holyoke reservoir (which was a lovely walk that I highly recommend to fans of the outdoors). We then went to get Thai food with a friend and I ordered a blazingly hot curry, and the good folks at Thai Place certainly delivered. <br /><br />On Sunday morning, I woke up a couple of times around 5am feeling a little crampy, which I attributed to my ambitious curry consumption. I went in and out of the toilet a few times, but each time I got into bed I became uncomfortable again and had to get up again. It occurred to me that this may be early labour, but I had spent the week thinking any minor movement in my belly was labour, so I was trying not to get my hopes up. Also, the curry was the more logical candidate. I decided against waking my husband until I was sure, and in lieu of being able to get into bed, I ran a bath and listened to my hypnobirthing CDs. I noticed that the cramps were spaced out evenly so documented their frequency which was at about 7 minutes. These were on the level of period pains, so I decided to let Nick sleep until I was sure I was in real labour, and, if I was, to keep his energy for when I had lost mine. <br /><br />I got bored (and pruney) in the bath by about 8am, so woke Nick up and told him I was pretty sure things were starting. I got back into bed and Nick patiently massaged my back (and watched basketball on mute) as I worked on hypnosis and napped between each contraction. Nick called our Doula, Marie, who arrived at about 10am, and for the next few hours I stayed in bed sleeping between each contraction. The contractions were holding at 6-7 minutes apart and still within the level of period pains. Had I been in a hospital, they would have called this Early Labour, and likely would have said it had stalled. However, you're not even meant to go to the hospital until contractions are at least 5 minutes apart. The contractions weren't getting closer or stronger, and Nick and Marie tried to convince me to got for a short walk but I really didn't want to be out of bed. Eventually, they haggled for me to walk to the bathroom which is next door to our bedroom. <br /><br />Marie suggested that I may be comfortable sitting on the toilet, and I am lucky that she did, because during one of my next contractions my water broke. That was about 1.15pm. All of a sudden, I went from having mild cramps that I could sleep between to having immense contractions with no real break in-between. The next 20 minutes are a blur to me, but pieced together from Nick and Marie's accounts. The next contraction was 5 minutes apart, then four minutes apart, then three then two. They were also extremely intense and I had to grab onto Nick's arms and dangle from him while they lasted. There was talk of getting to the hospital and the midwives were phoned to be told we were on our way. I was sure I could feel the baby coming, but Nick and Marie (as well as the birthing classes we took) assured me that it just felt that way, and that I was hours away from the baby actually arriving. Nevertheless, I felt like the baby may have been crowning. After the next contraction, I knew she was coming. Marie looked to see what was going on, and instantly told Nick to call 911. The next contraction brought the baby's head. I couldn't see, but Marie said the baby was trying to cry. During that contraction Nick was out of the room to call 911 and it was awful doing it without him. He was back in the room for the next one, which brought the rest of the baby and Nick delivered his daughter at 1.38pm. She was handed to me, and we heard the EMTs arriving.<br /><br />The main EMT was a really nice guy, and he checked out Vivienne with Nick. She had a great colour, and an Apgar score of 9 (at the hospital we found out that she is 22" long and weighed in at 9lb 7oz). I should point out that given my day started in a bathtub, I wasn't wearing any clothes at this point, which now had 3 EMTS and a cop standing around me. It sounds weird, but I really didn't care. I think I was so amazed by what had just happened, and in awe of holding my daughter that vanity fell by the wayside. I was given a little hospital robe and we walked downstairs to the stretcher. I hopped on, and held Vivienne as we rode to the hospital - definitely a more comfortable alternative to being stuck having contractions in a car. The hospital staff greeted us, and everyone was amazed by our story. The midwife who settled us in said in thirty years she had never heard of anything like this. <br /><br />So, that's pretty much the story of our birth. Typing the portion of the active labour took longer than the active labour itself. I have no idea how it went so fast, but Hypnobirthing promises a shorter labour (though, I don't think they meant only 20 minutes of active labour!). Either way, it was an amazing experience, and looking over the birth plan we wrote, we got every single thing we asked for, just not how we expected it. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYkdEMpdzAJFHRJ6aq8qvtA6WPR4ew9PSwF7utYJXFxcaPUyJCXusckMFD2_WqJvDciUXVc9pWnJYnH-XVu5-XWNYm_IOBdobrCC0CG_BCyuTV8WmK55JiYWunMeoQn2V0W5kpJDHuvB_5/s1600/DSC05296.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYkdEMpdzAJFHRJ6aq8qvtA6WPR4ew9PSwF7utYJXFxcaPUyJCXusckMFD2_WqJvDciUXVc9pWnJYnH-XVu5-XWNYm_IOBdobrCC0CG_BCyuTV8WmK55JiYWunMeoQn2V0W5kpJDHuvB_5/s400/DSC05296.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5587389839615095746" /></a>Dr. aWoWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764017235733394669noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5854697006040544881.post-16744347974291722262011-03-15T16:16:00.012-04:002011-03-16T13:22:41.993-04:00Puppp This!I should buy a lottery ticket, certainly before I wrap up my pregnancy. My rationale for taking up gambling is that I have spent my daughter's gestation beating the odds on the symptom front. <br /><br />I found the following statistics on the interwebs, so please don't quote them in a professional forum, but I think they illustrate my point nicely. The most oft cited side-effect of pregnancy is morning sickness, which affects about 65-70% of women. I didn't throw up once. Depending on which website you go to, swelling affects 75-90% of women. I am 4 days past my due date and I still have my wedding ring on. In fact, working my way down the "Most Common Pregnancy Symptoms" list I googled, I didn't get any acne, spot bleeding, back or pelvis aches etc. I'll admit that I have peed a little more often and have bought more antacids than usual, but I would argue that if something can be replicated by a night out drinking, it's hardly a <span style="font-style:italic;">bona fide</span> side effect. <br /><br />All in all, I was loving being pregnant. I had this little life inside me that I could feel moving around. Unencumbered by such plebeian concerns as vomiting or searing lumbar pain, I could enjoy preparing for her arrival, daydreaming about how she will grow up, and generally getting the most out of this wonderful time. After all, I had dodged all of the common symptoms of pregnancy!<br /><br />Here endeth the bragging. I have already blogged about my rhinitis of pregnancy, which, if you include runny noses stemming from queuing for a taxi in the cold as part of a normal night out, can be eliminated as a sympathy-meriting side effect. Triviality notwithstanding, this was step one of my lottery ticket idea as less than 15% of pregnant women experience this symptom.<br /><br />But in the last week, I have really hit the jackpot of rare symptoms. I had some stretch marks below my naval since the middle of my third trimester. Being so in love with pregnancy, they really didn't bother me at all. However, the Universe obviously got sick of hearing me say "My pregnancy has been a breeze." and "I hope this pregnancy lasts as long as possible because I am really enjoying it.", and decided to unleash the fate I had so adeptly tempted. A few weeks ago, my stretch marks got a little itchy. Nothing terrible; kind of in the range of how it feels if you didn't shower right after a good workout. But over the next few days, the itchiness got more intense and frequent. I read up on itchy stretch marks, and stumbled across the term <span style="font-style:italic;">Puppp</span>. <br /><br />Puppp, or pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy (translation: itchy bumps that preggos get), starts out as mild itchiness below the belly, but spreads around the torso, down the extremities and basically everywhere that's not hands or face. The itchiness gets more and more intense and there's nothing that can be done for it, other than the pregnancy coming to an end. I think I am getting close to scratching my way to a C-section, so I may be able to accommodate that cure. And it goes without saying, that having your entire torso covered in "papules and plaques" can only make you look even sexier in those last days of pregnancy. Couple that with the image of someone vigorously scratching themselves as if they were infested with scabies and you start to paint quite the picture. I normally take photos to add to blog entries where relevent, but if you google Puppp, you'll see why I deviated on this occasion.<br /><br />Puppp affects less than 1% of pregnant women, and while the cause is unknown, 70% of that 1% deliver boys. Other suspects include large babies (causing excess distension of the skin). I have been assured my midwife that my daughter is both female and normally sized. If my math isn't failing me, and I offer no guarantees on that point, that puts me in an elite group with 0.3% of pregnant women. Yippee!<br /><br />As I mentioned, I am four days beyond my due date and I am doing everything I can think of to induce labour. It's been 2 weeks since I have slept for longer than 2 hours at a time, before needing to reapply my Aveeno Oatmeal lotion, which only sort of works. Another blogger summed up the misery best when she said that she would have traded Puppp for a different condition that could potentially kill her, on the condition that it didn't cause itchiness. Also, and this may be the itchiness-induced sleep deprivation speaking, but the phrase Puppp is patronizingly diminutive! Were Kittt or Bunnn already taken?<br /><br />All that said, the Universe can go and bite itself. As miserable as this condition is, anytime I feel my daughter kick, hiccup or wiggle around, I am so in love with the experience that I don't feel anything but unadulterated joy. Now, if you will excuse me, I am off to buy a lottery ticket... and some Vindaloo curry!Dr. aWoWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764017235733394669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5854697006040544881.post-49699968139183063172011-03-01T17:47:00.009-05:002011-03-02T16:48:05.955-05:00A Blanket for BabyLast weekend, I was given the gift of a wonderful handmade blanket from my friends in the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/groups/the-south-bend-knitwork">South Bend knitting group</a>. The blanket arrived to my house close to two weeks ago, but I wasn't allowed to open it. I confess that I tried poking my finger into the box to feel the blanket, but fortunately the person who sent it, Amy, knew me well enough to use enough packing tape to secure Fort Knox! The reason I had to wait was that my friend, Kristine, organized a Skpye reunion of the knitting group. We all got to sit and chat -while knitting- just like the old days. It was such a wonderful afternoon and I loved getting the opportunity to catch up with everyone. <br /><br />The other highlight of the meeting was obviously the blanket. A tradition has arisen within our group that we collectively, and secretively, make blankets for members of the group that are pregnant. While many of us have moved away from South Bend, the tradition is still going strong (though involves an increasing amount of coordination via email), and is a lovely connection to a knitting group that we all held so dearly. <br /><br />Prior to the gift opening, I had received a Knit Picks catalogue in the mail and was contemplating ordering some yarn to make a blanket for my daughter, to replace a recently <a href="http://aweekofwednesdays.blogspot.com/2011/02/knit-knacks.html">frogged effort</a>. It occurred to me that I should to wait to see what the girls had made for me, and I am lucky that I did because I would have picked the exact same colours they chose. My true luck is having friends that know me so well, they can pick colours I would buy myself! The blanket is now packed away in the hospital bag in anticipation of the arrival of its rightful owner (though I do take it out to peek at it every so often). <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-RXfCI_B0JFSTPHYkE2oSk4R6Ebi_nChQH2G_KH3k8pvGCQ8M6bmQSTsRgDWzavBCLWc9K-rwDF1l7Yyn-Ko1KsaIzTXJP77p7_15gaX2wGhCp6Buu6vhFalkxSfI6kc6NFOUOQSdoOYw/s1600/180399_775753047567_5617875_41840082_6448026_n.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 288px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-RXfCI_B0JFSTPHYkE2oSk4R6Ebi_nChQH2G_KH3k8pvGCQ8M6bmQSTsRgDWzavBCLWc9K-rwDF1l7Yyn-Ko1KsaIzTXJP77p7_15gaX2wGhCp6Buu6vhFalkxSfI6kc6NFOUOQSdoOYw/s400/180399_775753047567_5617875_41840082_6448026_n.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5579254720993777250" /></a><br /><br />Thank you, South Bend knitters!Dr. aWoWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764017235733394669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5854697006040544881.post-83092052325119985842011-02-25T15:14:00.000-05:002011-02-26T18:16:05.365-05:00Cold FeetIn lieu of doing actual work whilst at work the other day -because that isn't going to happen- I was perusing Ravelry.com. My friends have been stubbornly refusing to keep me entertained with new project pictures or blog entries recently, so I resorted to reviewing my own projects. I have my projects sorted by category (Sweaters, Accessories, Babies, etc.). I was looking through the entries in my "Sock" category, when I rather depressingly noticed that the mortality rate for this particular type of knitted item is disturbingly high. I have completed eleven pairs of socks (I thought it was more), and a scant six pairs are still with us. One of the surviving pairs are the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/lizzy-knits/earl-grey">Earl Greys</a> that I made for my husband. He wore them the day of the wedding, and has kept them in a ziplock bag ever since. I would like to think this protective measure was an act of sentimentality, but he informed me that they make his feet too hot, and that is why he doesn't wear them. Another surviving pair are the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/lizzy-knits/universal-toe-up-sock-formula">Universal Toe-Ups</a>, which were the first pair of socks I ever made. The fact that they were made from the virtually indestructible 25% Nylon Magic Stripe yarn renders their survival somewhat less than triumphant. Also, as they hail from my earlier days of knowing how to measure gauge, they are a little on the baggy side and rarely worn as a result.<br /><br />Alas, my favourite socks were invariably the ones that fell victim to early demises, which, while sad, stands to reason. All is not lost, though. While I have loved and lost, I have also learned. After the nascent phase of using man-made fibre heavy chain store yarns (e.g. Magic Stripes), I became consumed with hand-dyed, entirely natural fibres. While an important part of the learning curve, I have since developed a more balanced world view, where small amounts of nylon serve the greater reinforcement good, and superwash wool can protect from the heartbreak of surprise-feltings. Nonetheless, I wanted to bid adieu to my erstwhile footwarmers.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" ><i>In Memoriam</i></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://images4.ravelrycache.com/uploads/lizzy-knits/44514785/DSC05030_medium2.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 353px; height: 290px;" src="http://images4.ravelrycache.com/uploads/lizzy-knits/44514785/DSC05030_medium2.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a> 2010-2010, felting accident<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://images4.ravelrycache.com/uploads/EJ-Hooker/4961460/DSC02246_medium2.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 353px; height: 290px;" src="http://images4.ravelrycache.com/uploads/EJ-Hooker/4961460/DSC02246_medium2.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a> 2009-2011, hole<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://images4.ravelrycache.com/uploads/EJ-Hooker/22829003/DSC04310_medium2.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 353px; height: 290px;" src="http://images4.ravelrycache.com/uploads/EJ-Hooker/22829003/DSC04310_medium2.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a> 2010-2010, lost<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://images4.ravelrycache.com/uploads/lizzy-knits/36039398/DSC04711_medium2.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 353px; height: 290px;" src="http://images4.ravelrycache.com/uploads/lizzy-knits/36039398/DSC04711_medium2.JPG" alt="" border="0" /></a> 2010-2010, felting accident<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2214/2499736490_1abd072105_z.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 353px; height: 290px;" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2214/2499736490_1abd072105_z.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a> 2008-2009, felting accident<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div></div>Dr. aWoWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06020077523939400539noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5854697006040544881.post-43994828970757866882011-02-21T07:36:00.013-05:002011-02-21T13:46:45.013-05:00Knit-KnacksI've decided to get back to the original point of this blog and talk about the random goings-on in my knitting. After all, as I am three weeks or so away from my due date, there may not be much knitting to discuss for a while once the baby gets here!<br /><br /><font style="font-weight: bold;">1. Ribbit</font><br />A friend of mine is a huge fan of raglan sweaters, citing the lack of seaming as a major factor in how fast they can be done. Having slaved through several seamed sweaters, I decided I wanted something that would go faster and cast on my <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/lizzy-knits/top-down-raglan-sweater-generator">first raglan sweater</a> using Addi Turbos, and my newfound competency with continental knitting and purling, to expedite the project even more. That was a year ago.<br /><br />The yarn for this project was purchased in a co-op, from which I purchased ten navy and five undyed skeins of Malabrigo worsted. I dyed three skeins with Kool-Aid to make an argyle using the navy as the main colour. After completing a long and difficult argyle pattern around the torso, I tried on my nearly knitted creation only to discover that my tension control in colourwork is terrible. It was so tight around my waist that I couldn't breathe and needed help getting back out of the sweater. Through tears of frustration*, I pulled out the argyle. I decided to knit to the bottom, and work 6-10" of a fancy cable pattern in place of ribbing. After a few repeats of that pattern (which involved 48 cables per round every 4 rows), I decided it wasn't what I wanted, and pulled that out. A few inches of K1P1 ribbing (which had to be done twice as I forgot which size needle had been used for the neck ribbing) later, and a very plain stockinette body was complete. I had really wanted to make something interesting with this yarn, so it seemed an awful shame to make the whole sweater in boring stockinette. To try and get some patterning onto it, I am doing XOXO cabling down the arms. So far, I am happy with it and hopefully it makes the sweater a little interesting.<br /><br />I estimate that I will have four skeins of navy and a few skeins of Kool-Aid dyed Malabrigo left, so I will make a sweater with that, only this time I will plan ahead. I have come to the conclusion that while raglan sweaters are infinitely faster than their seamed counterparts, knowledge of their speed can lead the more impulsive among us into COing without thinking. More haste, less sweater.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhajgJ2Ph2DRkCHbR4M-SCUR-Pz_pxDZsjKIAnGc_c2AMJeTlZk-qhSQCxVS3iM1qhzRnKfiKZfxuzTndDBQKouq3U-QREtigW72A5oAtRhkvdslBwxa1lSlMe_P2hmyJ7gmtp7Hqm_xgZQ/s1600/DSC05257.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhajgJ2Ph2DRkCHbR4M-SCUR-Pz_pxDZsjKIAnGc_c2AMJeTlZk-qhSQCxVS3iM1qhzRnKfiKZfxuzTndDBQKouq3U-QREtigW72A5oAtRhkvdslBwxa1lSlMe_P2hmyJ7gmtp7Hqm_xgZQ/s320/DSC05257.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576215896422070610" /></a><br /><br /><font style="font-weight: bold;">2. The Kindness of Strangers</font><br />I received this blanket in the mail. It's a beautiful embossed leaves pattern in white baby yarn. It was given to me by a friend of my mother, whom I have never met. It matches a beautiful white cardigan that the same lady sent to me. It really makes me happy to know that there are people out there who are so considerate, they would take the time to make a baby blanket for someone they have never met. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg3HpmUvvQ4_qxDN6tRB0nJBD1xtnKr69qHnaDuZRPq0HsIIKFx73AaouoQppwFC4QJKJ4wkA7dzJ9TcT9m_dL03WdKFmxFG1DXEgGMTrpJtIgeDxx9sznF_1Eu25qDxkE6dbZIrc2eehC/s1600/DSC05248.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 224px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg3HpmUvvQ4_qxDN6tRB0nJBD1xtnKr69qHnaDuZRPq0HsIIKFx73AaouoQppwFC4QJKJ4wkA7dzJ9TcT9m_dL03WdKFmxFG1DXEgGMTrpJtIgeDxx9sznF_1Eu25qDxkE6dbZIrc2eehC/s320/DSC05248.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576214941812757986" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3. The Future Tense of Ribbit</span><br />I should have frogged <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/lizzy-knits/wish-bear-afghan">this blanket</a> a long, long time ago. It's meant to be a crocheted Care Bear blanket, but I decided to knit it after I figured out that I am not very committed to huge colourwork crochet projects. Once I switched over to knitting, it started to go a lot faster, but as I got into the pattern, I realized that the Care Bear (Wish Bear, if you're interested), looked a tad squished. I decided to soldier on, reasoning that it wouldn't look so bad. The colours I chose for Wish Bear's rainbow that shoots out of the star on his tummy (they don't teach meteorology over at the DIC studios) were terrible and the star is a bit of a mess too. I decided that the embroidery called for in the pattern will fix the star, and some clever duplicate stitching could remedy the rainbow, and persevered. I am now about two thirds done, and it looks worse than ever. I have, however, gotten to a point where I have put so much work into it that I can't bear (hehe) the idea of undoing it all. I wanted to make this for my daughter by the time she was born. I can safely assume that isn't going to happen, and my time would be better spent making a <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/babys-texture-blanket">Baby's Texture Blanket</a> or <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-great-american-afghan">Great American Afghan</a> for her, but being oddly superstitious or ritualistic as I am, I can't quite detach myself from the self-imposed chore I have turned this project into. Clearly, my daughter is far less likely to say "What the heck is that meant to be?" if I present her with a blanket of squished bear who has a malformed stomach tattoo, than "You don't love me because you quit making a blanket of a defunct cartoon, neither of which I knew about because I wasn't born yet!". Reading this, I see how crazy I am. I am going home to frog this stupid project right now!!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaw9Q-vS3qslD9dh3sSLjGNHon_exYU_tHEbhPqzgI0Jdl_XR48kvf7VPKoHdbueybmHfJyP1YhIwqLVdjDKzCnukTRssIw8ugE1cF660zz84cn8W5QegS3UmXfX8plkknG4pqZzhb0cQ9/s1600/DSC05252.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaw9Q-vS3qslD9dh3sSLjGNHon_exYU_tHEbhPqzgI0Jdl_XR48kvf7VPKoHdbueybmHfJyP1YhIwqLVdjDKzCnukTRssIw8ugE1cF660zz84cn8W5QegS3UmXfX8plkknG4pqZzhb0cQ9/s320/DSC05252.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5576214933091317826" /></a><br /><br /><font size="2">* a slight exaggeration, but I was pretty peeved.</font>Dr. aWoWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764017235733394669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5854697006040544881.post-71303272198306297372011-02-16T16:35:00.007-05:002011-04-19T23:23:34.575-04:00One Month Left.... Maybe.Dear Vivienne,<br /><br />According the free pregnancy application I have on my iPod, there is just under more month before I finally get to meet the source of all the kicking and hiccuping that has been going on inside my belly.<br /><br />Before I get to gushing over how excited I am to meet my little girl, I want to thank you for the wonderful pregnancy you have let me have. We're always told that it's a wonderful and natural time, but the more anecdotes we hear from friends, reality TV and miscellaneous sources, the more terrifying it can seem. My mother had such terrible morning sickness that her obstetrician suspected that my brother (your Uncle Ben) was twins! Since witnessing her terrible bouts of illness, I assumed it was genetic and resigned myself to at least three months of nausea and vomiting. While I did feel a little off for a few weeks, I was delighted to never once get sick.<br /><br />Now, with under a month to go, I feel safe enough declaring that my pregnancy has been spared the other unpleasant symptoms of swelling, bloating, aching, reasons to worry about foetal health, infections in strange places, vascular issues. In fact, you have made me drink so much water, while I avoided coffee and soda, that my skin has never looked better! I have started to waddle a bit, which I think means you have started to drop down, but this has relieved the minor yet bothersome heartburn I was experiencing, so the extremely mild discomfort is a happy trade-off for me. My tummy, while definitely pregnant, hasn't gotten too big, though in the last few days I have gone from looking pregnant to looking like I have been shoplifting a basketball. I have been lucky in that I only had to purchase one or two pairs of maternity pants and a belly band. Otherwise, my normal clothes (as well as a hoodie I stole from your Dad) have sufficed. I am happy to put the money toward more important things like you!<br /><br />Speaking of money, we have been so blessed by the generosity of our friends, coworkers and families, that the preparations for your arrival haven't cost that much at all. Three baby showers in all were thrown to celebrate you, and it made us feel so blessed to have people who care about us, and who are that excited for your arrival.<br /><br />Pregnancy has been, despite what I anticipated, a lot of fun. The highlights have been getting to see you on ultrasounds (even the ones you spent hiding behind your arms), or hearing your beautiful heartbeat during checkups. Probably my favourite thing is feeling you move. During the second trimester, you loved kicking me. It mostly happened at night, which made me worry that you were planning to be entirely nocturnal. Then you spent a couple of weeks piping up during the daytime. However, that didn't last, so I now think you may be a night owl like your mother. Now that you have gotten bigger, you don't kick so much, but you really enjoy crawling around which both looks and feels very strange (almost like something from a Sci-Fi movie), but in a wonderful way. You have also started hiccuping a lot, especially early morning, which amuses me and lets me know that you will have good, healthy lungs when you get here. <br /><br />I have officially entered the "nesting" phase of pregnancy. My desire to sit on the couch and knit baby clothes during any free time has been replaced with an urge to organize every last detail of your bedroom, pack our hospital bag and generally get the house ready for you. One of our cats, Panthro, is very interested in your room, and loves getting into the Pack'n'Play that our colleagues bought for you. Buttons is less interested in your stuff, but has been quite affectionate to me lately, so he may take a liking to you when you get here.<br /><br />I am getting more and more excited for the day of your arrival. Your father and I took a hypnobirthing class and that is the approach that we are going to take with your birth. I have been really careful about the things I put in or on my body (no make-up for the past 9 months), to keep us both healthy so that you can have the best start in life. I also kept up a reasonably regular exercise and yoga routine for the same reason. The natural childbirth we have planned is also intended to give you a healthy start to life. I was getting a little annoyed by the fact that peoples' instant reaction to hearing that we are planning a natural birth has been to share stories of disasters, or predict our failure. I had until recently apologetically responded by discussing our plans as what we "hope" to do, quickly following it up with "but we'll have to see how it goes". However, I have found inspiration from one or two friends, and for the remaining month, we have decided to be firmly positive in any discussion of your birth and not allow anyone to undermine our plans. We have a wonderful Doula named Marie, and I know that she is going to help make your birth an amazing experience for us all.<br /><br />Your father is getting really excited too. He loves to feel you kick and often says "Hi Soybean" to my belly. You may not recognize his voice when you meet him because he insists upon talking to you in a funny voice (a la Andy from The Office when he was pretending that he and Pam were having a baby). I have been really grateful for the support he has given me, from taking my hormone-induced moods with good humour to attending all the various birthing and prenatal classes. He may jokingly complain to our friends, but he has participated enthusiastically and I am really lucky that he's going to be your Dad. I do want to mention that your father is picking your middle name. He hasn't made a decision yet, but if you don't like it, blame him!<br /><br />Your first name was agreed upon by both of us, but I initially suggested it. Your great-grandmother, my paternal grandmother, was called Vivienne. I knew her as Granny, but I didn't think you would enjoy that as a name so we went with her given name. She was an amazing woman and I have such fond memories of her. She taught me how to knit because she was annoyed that my teddy bear, Horatio, was losing stuffing through two holes. She knit one patch to show me how, and I knit the other one to practice. I still have Horatio, and his patches are such a treasured memory that I will always keep him safe. Granny Vivienne was a strong, loving and intelligent woman, and while I will never refer to you as being named <span style="font-style: italic;">after</span> her, I hope sharing her name will bless you with some of her qualities (particularly her ability to sing, because you will not be inheriting that from me!).<br /><br />That's about all I can think to share with you now. I can't believe I am this close to holding you in my arms. We already love you, but I know we are going to love you so much more once you are born. I promise to be the best mother I can be, and to keep my neurotic worrying to a minimum. I have already begun to fret over any number of things that might affect you from prenatal issues all the way to your adulthood. Please learn to see that as my caring for you, and not be driven to crazy by my fussing. I promise that I will love you no matter what. I also promise that I will have never come up with any dreams for how you turn out or what you become, and instead use my efforts to help you fulfill the dreams you have come up with for yourself.<br /><br />Love,<br /><br />Your Mum<br /><br />P.S. Here's how dorky your parents are... There's going to be a lot of parental embarrassment in your future!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEm6XGQfudrEbwfImSOJD2mCJvI6wrYk-z-yXx9Z7LR1wpewtxzyDJphym-cp6O4uhLj_NfqsyFkmZU1c_XUlHd9zEYW16coYCfxAcA6L6FfIUI53iXthyphenhyphen8bUa1kxW6Rlro8CR14a0v9Lv/s1600/Collins_Card.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 314px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEm6XGQfudrEbwfImSOJD2mCJvI6wrYk-z-yXx9Z7LR1wpewtxzyDJphym-cp6O4uhLj_NfqsyFkmZU1c_XUlHd9zEYW16coYCfxAcA6L6FfIUI53iXthyphenhyphen8bUa1kxW6Rlro8CR14a0v9Lv/s400/Collins_Card.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5574464039534387874" /></a>Dr. aWoWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764017235733394669noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5854697006040544881.post-23338002854765187462011-02-10T09:04:00.004-05:002011-02-10T09:12:03.239-05:0010 Things #9: Bah Bah Baby!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijqb89g3x2_seI8AmnZWKHzqSAxxWObn2-0ivxyp-0T-VRPq4t_zxGtYFaVZIZh_1NSPG0B03t6NMUfpl5Il3N58j9HUcFnmAg_4l9TecJFxcHcYdfCorpYxrvPfP_503z0-zgzIIJbxod/s1600/DSC05237.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 393px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijqb89g3x2_seI8AmnZWKHzqSAxxWObn2-0ivxyp-0T-VRPq4t_zxGtYFaVZIZh_1NSPG0B03t6NMUfpl5Il3N58j9HUcFnmAg_4l9TecJFxcHcYdfCorpYxrvPfP_503z0-zgzIIJbxod/s400/DSC05237.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5572061802442923042" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: left;">There are many things that are very exciting about preparing to be a mother. Far from the most profound, but arguably the most fun, is the knowledge that you'll have about four solid years of dressing your child up in ridiculous outfits (beyond that point, they get big enough to fight back!). As a knitter, the desire to torture my child with silly outfits is only amplified. Long before I was pregnant, I discovered -and fell in love with -baby clothes that look like cute little animals. My friend, Carly, showed me her copy of New Baby Knits by Debbie Bliss, and as soon as I saw the little Bunny and Sheep costumes I was a woman possessed. I eventually bought my own copy, and as part of this challenge decided to make one. The sheep was picked because of yarn I had available around the house. I love the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/lizzy-knits/lamb-all-in-one">end product</a>, but the hours and hours of stockinette coupled with the needless amounts of seeming made for a bit of a laborious project. I discovered another Ravelry user who had used Berroco Plush to make <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/CraftyHedgehog/lamb-all-in-one">her sheep outfit</a>, and I think it worked much better with the project. My favourite part of my FO is the buttons I found at Webs!!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLP2tU7n-nFvPGh9M0Zatb1pcvBGw1oIfrc5XFO5MWSSD9LmZ1tSfHG3u3j3QW5C36fWdhpfsSVigYSAwfSf7Qp75bnF4z2WRpCULFxkPfQAQz1rCec_-HGlbaxDdotStBCAAzuJEmOSC9/s1600/DSC05241.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLP2tU7n-nFvPGh9M0Zatb1pcvBGw1oIfrc5XFO5MWSSD9LmZ1tSfHG3u3j3QW5C36fWdhpfsSVigYSAwfSf7Qp75bnF4z2WRpCULFxkPfQAQz1rCec_-HGlbaxDdotStBCAAzuJEmOSC9/s200/DSC05241.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5572062643442194178" border="0" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH_eCs14ryHoFZKveLtGgraIidMQme03kepxHh8QjpLI4QPKiukH4Xg8zbkR0o1qhXVS4jpobyveejS6ean8epD4NdRBb231aBGXqVvWFgQr5waMcGlRWmHGtgTHjQpYPVqR3qB_2XStLt/s1600/DSC05240.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH_eCs14ryHoFZKveLtGgraIidMQme03kepxHh8QjpLI4QPKiukH4Xg8zbkR0o1qhXVS4jpobyveejS6ean8epD4NdRBb231aBGXqVvWFgQr5waMcGlRWmHGtgTHjQpYPVqR3qB_2XStLt/s200/DSC05240.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5572062639173998274" border="0" /></a><br /></div><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWDybFVGezdB6Ir0AsvXX6FRfJUTxj-jHaSZQ5i9lJJLmoWzqtiAeyhiTSAvw27p6LtftjQsNMaeQbdO4nJFlfVrzbBGe7k0d6tF5X94kh73mgW3epepzgq1BJLyxljkzD8z1LTHiPA6hO/s1600/10+Things.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 137px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWDybFVGezdB6Ir0AsvXX6FRfJUTxj-jHaSZQ5i9lJJLmoWzqtiAeyhiTSAvw27p6LtftjQsNMaeQbdO4nJFlfVrzbBGe7k0d6tF5X94kh73mgW3epepzgq1BJLyxljkzD8z1LTHiPA6hO/s320/10+Things.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5571777925302210962" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" >That's Nine!</span></div></div>Dr. aWoWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764017235733394669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5854697006040544881.post-8221280630923230772011-02-01T11:19:00.000-05:002011-02-01T19:38:03.244-05:00Numismatism Part II<span style="font-weight: bold;">1.Delaware </span><br />Delaware became the first State of the United State(?) of America on December 7, 1787. The State Quarter features the State moniker, "The First State" and a man riding a horse. The rider was called Caesar Rodney (it says so on the coin), and having read a little about the history of Delaware, I am a little ashamed to say that I had never heard of him before this exercise. Delaware was home to Native Americans such as the Algonquin tribes before being settled by the Dutch in 1631. It changed hands with the Dutch, Swedes and Finns a few times before Sir Robert Carr won the territory in 1664 for Britain (there were actually more power plays by the Dutch and Swedes, but it gets kind of repetitive). The colony was named after Thomas West, 3rd and 12th Baron De La Warr (get it??), because the tactics he learned while fighting against the Irish also proved effective against the Native Americans. Interestingly, these "tactics" were against the natives in Virginia (not Delaware), and earned old Tommy the role of governor for life of Virginia. No reelection bids needing fund-raising, West appointed a deputy governor and toddled off back to England to write a book about Virginia from the comfort of the Empire. In 1618, it turned out his deputy was a bit of a tyrant, so he set sail for Virginia to investigate but died at sea. And then he got an entirely different State named after him. All was well in Delaware Colony under British rule, with the exception of some arbitrary parliamentary rulings until Thomas McKean and Caeser Rodney denounced the Stamp Act, and called for independence from Britain. In order to cast the essential vote needed to declare independence, Caeser Rodney made the first of the nation's historic overnight horseback rides to Philadelphia on July 1, 1776. Google maps doesn't give the option of "Horse" for mode of commute, but estimates the journey to be a seven hour trek by bicycle. Given US-13 wasn't built until 1926, it was a pretty impressive feat. He made it to the vote with no time to change out of his "boots and spurs", and two days later a nation was born. He was thanked by a less than grateful electorate by being ousted from office, but is immortalized on the Delaware quarter. State Capital: Dover.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4.Georgia</span><br />The Peach State was the 4th addition to the Union on January 2, 1788. The State Quarter features a Peach, the outline of the State, the words "Wisdom, Justice, Moderation" in a banner, and leaves of the Live Oak from its official State Tree. The last of the original thirteen colonies to be established, Georgia was named after Britain's King George II. Georgia took a leave of absence from the Union starting in 1861 to become the one of the seven original States of the Confederacy. That didn't pan out as a great life choice for Georgia, so it rejoined the Union on July 15, 1870, being the last State to do so. Mailing birthday cards to your relatives in Georgia must have been a nightmare during this period; in addition to all the back and forth as to what actual country Georgia was a part of, the State Capital of Georgia changed twelve times between 1776 and 1868. Today, Georgia's counties have some of the fastest growing populations, second only to Texas. These are presumably the counties with prisons in them. Across the nation, an average of 1 in 31 citizens are under some form of correctional control. But Georgia comes in at number 1 with an impressive(?) 1 in 13 of its denizens in the correctional system. That's probably good news for anyone looking to be gainfully employed by the penal system. However, given men made up 92.3% of the national prison population in 2002, I'd imagine the dating scene might suck in the Peach State, especially for those girls with an eye for the proverbial "bad boy". State Capital: <del>Savannah</del> <del>Augusta</del> <del>Heard's Ford</del> <del>Augusta</del> <del>Savannah</del> <del>Ebeneezer</del> <del>Savannah</del> <del>Augusta</del> <del>Louisville</del> <del>Milledgeville</del> <del>Macon</del> <del>Milledgeville</del> Atlanta<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">9. New Hampshire</span><br />The Granite State was admitted as the 9th of the Union on June 21, 1788. The State Quarter features the Old Man of the Mountain, a granite formation in the White Mountains, with the words "Live Free or Die". Don't go programming Cannon Mountain into your GPS just yet; the old guy sadly succumbed to gravity in 2003. New Hampshire is famed for its somewhat confrontational motto, "Live Free or Die", which it officially adopted in 1945. In 1971 all the vehicle plates were changed from "Scenic" to "Live Free or Die", marking probably the greatest shift in license plate tone in US history. The phrase itself was taken from an <span style="font-style: italic;">in abstentia</span> toast given by General Stark at the 32nd anniversary of the Battle of Bennington. As the revolutionary war was sparked in part by resentment over British taxation, I assume this means that death should be chosen in lieu of taxation. Evidently the New Hampshirites are among the 19% of Americans who fear death more than anything, as New Hampshire has no sale or income tax, and the 49th lowest State tax burden in the nation (I couldn't find out which State is living freer). It's hard to imagine how they fund roads and schools, but paying the nation's highest property tax may go some of the way to balancing the books. New Hampshire can pat itself on the green shoulder for having the lowest energy consumption by state and per capita, especially surprising given its average January high is a single Celsius degree. However, I suspect this environmental record may have been lost upon the arrival of my AC-loving in-laws to the State. State Capital: Concord.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">15. Kentucky</span><br />Kentucky was the 15th State to join the Union on June 1st, 1792. The State Quarter features the Federal Hill mansion, the home built by Judge James Rowan using slave labour (N.B. read up on things before sticking them on your State quarter); a thoroughbred horse; and the words "My Old Kentucky Home", the title of the official State song. The region comprising the Bluegrass state was known to be inhabited by Native Americans up to 13 millennia ago, but these indigenous people were all but wiped upon by the arrival of sneezing Europeans around the mid 1700s. The region was given top ratings on www.lonelyplanet.com by explorers such as Thomas Walker, John Finley and Daniel Boone, and a permanent settlement was established by James Harrod in 1774. Kentucky is famed for tobacco crops, growing corn used in whiskey and the thorough breeding of racehorses (the only state with its name in a triple crown event). However, before you cancel the bachelor/stag party trip to Vegas, favoring a weekend of debauchery in the first State of the Western Frontier, you should know that of the 130 counties in Kentucky, a whopping 75 are dry, and a further 15 are moist (I'm not exactly sure what that means, but I'd guess that mooning the staff at Taco Bell is probably not a good idea). State Capital: Frankfort.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4PCq6530HzEM4K-RKRL7KYKYSYbujep9uFnrUE8Nt-C3IQLipsEN7JMaDu-K1czzVsjwMGKuBTHwjeZ8durfRWeMFYBBfE0VCjm4RDOLnTNPZ1k9aw43yHGDYuMddLdI6F_VvDLCQOagm/s1600/DSC05217.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 198px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4PCq6530HzEM4K-RKRL7KYKYSYbujep9uFnrUE8Nt-C3IQLipsEN7JMaDu-K1czzVsjwMGKuBTHwjeZ8durfRWeMFYBBfE0VCjm4RDOLnTNPZ1k9aw43yHGDYuMddLdI6F_VvDLCQOagm/s400/DSC05217.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5568801395967135346" border="0" /></a>Dr. aWoWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764017235733394669noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5854697006040544881.post-82771838898043651002010-12-08T07:52:00.013-05:002010-12-17T16:50:09.566-05:00Hmmmm, That's Weird!I want to put a couple of disclaimers here. First, this post may contain material that is offensive to some. Second, I am not a medical professional, so nothing I say should be construed as medical advice or information, even on the wildest of your poor life decision-making days.<br /><br />I have had a strange pregnancy in that none of the symptoms I have had thus far hail from the standard schedule of vomiting and pickle-craving. Had I read more of the books in the maternity section, I might have been able to anticipate certain symptoms. But I didn't, so I couldn't. I was a little taken aback by some, and downright worried about others, so I thought I would document them here for any other insane hypochondriacs.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">1. So Very Thirsty</span><br />Before I found out I was pregnant, I inexplicably developed a voracious appetite for water. This is particularly unusual for me, as I have never been a great water drinker. When thirsty, I usually opted for sodas, juice or coffee.* But all of a sudden, I wanted water and I wanted it by the gallon. It even got to the point that I was getting out of bed at 3 or 4 am to get a large glass of water. Being the ill-informed hypochondriac that I am, I decided this meant I had developed diabetes. We were trying to get pregnant at this point, so before condemning my pancreas, I googled the term "pregnancy thirst" and found that quite a number of people had reported this symptom. The general consensus is that your body increases its blood volume during maternity and needs the extra liquid to do so. The upshot of this new found water consumption is that my skin has never behaved better.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">2. Vertigo</span><br />In a related note to #1, I had a spate of head rushes in early pregnancy. These tended to happen when I suddenly stood up. They were mild and never made me lose consciousness or fall over. I now reason this to my having diluted my blood volume with the entire municipal water supply. This really isn't a symptom I had never heard of before; I vaguely remember Gwyneth Paltrow's character in <span style="font-style: italic;">Sliding Doors</span> getting dizzy when she was pregnant (sorry if you haven't seen that film).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">3. Noses in Need</span><br />I have never had hay-fever or allergies in my life, so it came as a bit of a surprise when I started waking up with a runny nose and then sneezing my way through the day. My nose has since been in a constant state of runniness, despite the fact that summer and autumn have now both passed, leading me to believe this is not an allergic reaction to anything like pollen. The skin around my nose is dry from all the tissue abrasion and I worry that I will dehydrate from the amount of liquid I am losing in snot. I looked it up, and while rare, it seems to be a bona fide symptom of pregnancy. It is basically an allergic reaction without the allergic. I was a little upset to read that it may not clear up until a few weeks after the baby comes.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">4. Tag, You're It!</span><br />I noticed a handful of times that I had a couple of skin tags. These were tiny, skin-coloured pieces of raised skin that I wouldn't normally notice were it not for my neurotic hypochondria. I won't even say what ridiculous life-threatening conditions I attributed them to, but a brief internet search later, I discovered that this is an innocuous and normal symptom of pregnancy. Speaking of changes to one's skin, the "discoloration of the nipples" that I have read about didn't turn out to be the even change in skin tone I had expected! Let's just say you'd be forgiven for thinking my nipples have freckles or have had an unfortunately asymmetric run-in with a curling iron!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">5. Reverse Sympathy Pains</span><br />My husband hasn't had much by way of Couvade syndrome, but I have begun to sympathize with a uniquely male affiliation. Basically, I think I know what it feels like to be kicked in the family jewels. I talked to my midwife, and she assures me that because of the normal increase in blood-flow to "that area", swelling and discomfort often ensue. As a result, I don't like sitting for long periods and I have also started to waddle a bit.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">6. A One-Sided View</span><br />Much to my delight, my bump has come in over the last month or so. I was really excited to start showing and now that it is even visible through my winter coat, I am thrilled. I have received a number of complements on how cute it looks right now and I enjoy catching glimpses of it throughout the day. The only thing that disturbed me was the fact that my bump sometimes would shift almost entirely to one side. Basically, the baby takes little day trips over to the left side of my uterus every now and then. I've been told that once she gets bigger this won't happen. Knowing that it is a normal occurrence, I now think it just looks a little funny. More importantly, I'm happy that she's not right-leaning!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">7. I Am So Smart... S.M.R.T!</span><br />Pregnancy brain is a symptom that I had heard of before I experienced it. However, I had no idea how zany some of the things I would do would be. I found the nutmeg in the freezer; I made a second dinner for myself one evening, having forgotten about the first one; and I have become a complete slave to my iCal (think "guy from <span style="font-style: italic;">Memento"</span>). This is basically and apology to anyone who I promised to do something for, or to whom calls are yet to be returned! There were other funny things that I did, and I remember thinking "That's funny, I should blog about it." But now, thanks to pregnancy brain, I can't remember what it was that I found so amusing.<br /><br />All oddities aside, I enjoy being pregnant a lot. It's fun to know that a little person is growing inside you, and even more fun when they let you know they are there. I have also been blessed in that none of the symptoms I have had have caused me any real suffering like the nightmare that must be morning sickness. I just like to gripe about things for entertainment's sake and I hope maybe to allay the fears of anyone else going through a less than typical pregnancy!<br /><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">* Prior to being pregnant, of course. These days, juice is all that remains on the menu.</span>Dr. aWoWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764017235733394669noreply@blogger.com3