A Better Life Than Mine

One of the books I'm reading right now made an argument that really caused me to think. The author says trying to give your children a better life than you had sends the message to your children that your life is lacking, or that you failed to live up to your potential. Instead of trying to give your children a better life than you have, you should give them the example of your own life, full of love & happiness, as something to which they can aspire. I really like that idea. I had always just kind of assumed that I should give my kids a better life than I have, but the reality is, I've had a great life so far, and I don't think I can give Baby E better, just more. And that would not be doing her any favors.

It reminded me of a discussion Dh had with his friend B. B bought his 3-year-old son a toy Hummer, the kind you can drive around on. Dh thinks that's ridiculous, especially since it cost B about $300. B said he wants his son to have a better life. But it's just a more life, I think. Having a $300 toy when you're 3 does not make your life better. Or when you're 25.

Tidal

Baby E doesn't much care for being laundry. But she is a good sport.

She did not pull herself up into this position. Thank goodness. I am not ready for her to crawl, I am certainly not ready for her to pull up on things. She likes to lean over and gum the edge of the table. And we like to see her little disproportionate body! Ha ha
When I was a kid I used to do this to myself all the time. I would pretend to be a nun because my hair was all covered. Now I think it is weird that I would pretend to be a nun. But then, my brothers and I used to pour Cheerios into bowls, stare at the wall, and pretend to be at the movies. The Cheerios were popcorn. Duh. The point is, I was a weird kid. My husband would say, Not much has changed. I love that Baby E is game for hamming it up with her weird mommy.

I gave up on the cold turkey no swaddling. She wasn't napping well, and was crying for nearly an hour before every nap. We are doing a gradual de-swaddle. I swaddle Baby E with one arm out. That is going well, so soon I will make the transition to both arms out.

Baby E eats a lot more baby food now. She eats 1.5-2 containers of baby food, the Gerber 2nds, mixed with about 4 T of rice or oatmeal. She is also still nursing 5 times a day. She takes 2-3 naps a day.

She is experimenting with sounds. Mama, nyanya, dada, baba. No words on purpose yet. I was trying to get her to say mama a few days ago and somehow from that she learned to smack her lips. Which is funny, but not as gratifying as mama. Ha ha

I finished The Glass Castle. It was disturbing. The author's parents were so breathtakingly selfish and deluded. You could tell they were both intelligent, but they were such horrible parents. I'm almost done with Snow Flower & the Secret Fan.

Dh was supposed to go winter camping this weekend, but fell ill with a cold. So we are having a quiet weekend at home together. Monday he leaves on a business trip & won't be back until Thursday. Which is the same day his parents arrive for the weekend, so we won't have much alone time then. Actually, though, we are going to ask the grandparents to do a little bonding with Baby E so we can test drive some cars. The Corolla just does not cut it. Baby E's car seat only fits in the backseat because we moved the front seats up really far. We plan on having more kids, and another car seat will simply not fit in the Corolla. We are looking at the Highlander (I'm fond of Toyotas ha ha). Anyone have experience with the Highlander? Love it/hate it? We are also thinking of the Honda Pilot, but the Highlander scored higher in crash tests.

Learning to Reach

The End of Swaddling

Monday I decided to stop swaddling Baby E during naps. Yes, I have been swaddling her for over 7 months. But she has nearly outgrown every blanket, and my gut said it was time. She wakes up unswaddled, it just seems to be that initial falling-asleep time that she likes to be wrapped up. Her first unswaddled nap, she cried for almost 40 minutes, then slept for an hour. Her second, 20 minutes of crying, then another hour-long nap. Four days later, there is still trauma (at least 10 minutes of crying) at every nap, and she doesn't nap for longer than an hour anymore, but well, too bad. I still swaddle her at night, in two blankets. Send endurance my way, because this sucks.

This morning I awoke to glorious snow falling! I love snow and miss it. This is the second time it's snowed this winter, which is like a record or something for western Oregon. Ha ha

It's actually really pathetic isn't it? It barely covers the ground. We take what we can get.

I was talking to a friend today about needlecrafts, and she said she never would have guessed I crochet & knit. That I don't seem to have "that personality." I have no idea what that means, but I didn't have time to inquire further. What personality does a knitter/crocheter usually have? I mean, I guess the stereotype is the little grandma knitting baby booties. But I thought it was trendy to knit now. Convenient for me, since I started knitting back when it was still dorky. Ha ha

Florida Highlights

My dad rented a pontoon boat. Everyone went out except me & Baby E. Dh & I decided it wasn't safe for Baby E since there was no life vest. It turned out to be a stellar decision, because it was freeze-your-butt-off-cold as my mother would say. And I am a total pansy about the cold. Instead, Baby E & I went shopping. Yeah! (Note people huddled under animal print blankets - my mom has intriguing taste in fabric, huh.)
Me on Shell Island. Though just one day after the pontoon boat adventure, it was 10 degrees warmer. Thus the short sleeve shirt.
Highlight of the Shell Island trip: a seagull crapped on my little brother Joey's face. His FACE. How disgusting is that. Plus, well, you have to understand about Joey. He's 10, his next sibling is a 14-year-old girl. So it's kind of like he's an only child. And very hyper. And very weird. And so, on a boat full of people, at least 50 people, Joey was crapped on by a seagull, and no one in my family was really that surprised. It just seems like the kind of thing that would happen to Joey.

Our happy family, again at Shell Island. Poor Baby E was so exhausted, having just dropped a major bomb in her diaper (and all over her clothes) on the boat, so she fell asleep against Dh's chest in the carrier. Which never happens.

And well, we don't have many more pics of our Florida trip. We got so busy doing things and having fun that we forgot to take pictures. Which is cool.

Santa's little helper.
Mess created while Dh briefly used the bathroom. Dh did not put Baby E near her trashcan. But you know, Baby E works fast when time is short.

Florida is kewl

I had a fantastic time in Florida! And so did Dh. Baby E behaved like a dream, so we'll just assume she had a great time too. No real fights. My teenaged sisters (18 & 14) are brats, but that comes with the territory, I guess. My siblings were starting to bug me by the end of the week, so I was ready to go home. Since they're not Dh's brothers & sisters, he was fine, and would probably have loved another week of vacation! Ha ha The hotel room was huge & gorgeous (and paid for by my parents - yay!). There was a huge, nice tub in the master suite (our room). We took a couple of family baths - fun!

We went go-karting, out on boats, shopping, Ripley's Believe-It-or-Not. Us girls had a spa day while my dad & Dh went deep sea fishing. (Getting your underarms waxed KILLS, in case you were wondering.) We ate at some fantastic places - my favorite was a Japanese steakhouse. It had hibachi grills, and the chef cooked the food in front of us - it was so cool!

The weather was sorta cooperative - it was certainly warmer than Oregon! A few days were kind of chilly - but we had some gloriously warm, sunny days too. Wearing a short-sleeve shirt in the sun in December is such a nice feeling!

Baby E did such a good job on the flights we couldn't even believe it. Our return flight home was delayed 2 hours, by the time we got home it was 12:30 am - 6 hours after Baby E goes to bed. She slept really well in Dh's arms on the plane, and when she woke occasionally, she smiled at other passengers and barely fussed at all. A wonderful late Christmas present! Ha ha

On New Year's Eve, Dh & I had Second Christmas, which was so fun it makes me want to have Second Christmas every year. I got the perfume I wanted (woo-hoo!) and also got Next by Michael Crichton and a cookbook I've wanted for a while. And two movies: The Importance of Being Ernest (hilarious!!!!!) and The Man Who Knew Too Little (one of my all-time faves). We also had some presents around from Dh's brother and his wife, so we opened those too. She has great taste and is in graphic design. She made me some awesome stationary and a beautiful necklace & matching earrings. Dh really liked the clothes I got him, which is good. Especially because dang do I know how to pick jeans -- his butt looks fantastic in them, so I was really hoping he'd like them too! Ha ha

So today Baby E is 7 months old. She decided to celebrate by falling off the bed this morning for the first time. I don't really feel too bad because 1) everyone else's baby seems to have already done it, and 2) she was laughing within 15 seconds of me picking her up. I guess she rolls really quickly now, because I swear I was only on the toilet for a few seconds!!!!!!

She sits up really well. She laughs a lot more now. Though we still can't predict very well what she will find amusing. She is not that much into the baby food. She only eats it once a day (if that) and gags a LOT if I try to feed her meat. In fact, if there is a word for someone who eats only fruits and vegetables, apply it to Baby E. She doesn't go for oatmeal or rice cereal. She likes butternut squash, bananas, peaches, and applesauce. And that's about it. Well and lots and lots of breastmilk. Ha ha I have started mixing oatmeal into her faves to trick her into eating at least some grains. When I tried carrots on her, she taught me a really super neat trick: if you just never close your mouth after your mom puts the dreaded orange crap in your mouth, it falls out onto your bib.

What she is into is playing. She loves grabbing everything, banging toys, eating stuffed animals' faces, trying to eat paper (with varying amounts of success depending on how observant I am being). Dh loves to make her smile & laugh by jumping around like an ape. She also enjoys his "Human Bouncy Toy."

Dh has started something I love & appreciate: when she wakes up for the day, around 7:30-8, he hangs out with her while he eats breakfast and showers. This enables me to sleep until 8:30 when he has to leave for work. Thanks, Dh! You rock!

Baby E has also started something I love: she wakes up to nurse at 5 am now, instead of 4 am. It means I regularly get 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep and I love it!

This evening something weird happened: Baby E went down for her 3rd nap at 4. Her 3rd nap (when it happens) is usually 45-60 mins. I finished baking some apple scones and laid down for what I thought would be a power nap at 4:45 pm. I woke up to Baby E making little noises -- at 6:45!!!! I ran into her room, and she was all drowsy still, barely waking up. I don't know what was going on. I got her up, but she was rubbing her eyes like crazy, so I just changed her diaper, put on her pjs, nursed her and put her back in bed by 7:10, where she went to sleep with no crying whatsoever. That kid sleeps so much - it's fantastic.