One of those days...
Jan 29, 2011
We woke up Thursday morning, grabbed Scarlett from her crib, gave her a bottle, perched her on our bed and started to get ready for the day. The calm that was Thursday morning was soon to become chaos as Scarlett decided she had finished her bottle and was ready to climb off the bed, without her parents help. We heard the soft thump of the bottle hitting the ground followed by a loud thud and a screaming baby girl. She had climbed like we showed her off of the edge of the bed, tummy down, but decided to do so between the metal bed side table and the wooden edge of the bed. She was stuck face pressed tightly against the bed, legs crumbled behind her. I scooped her up with tears in her eyes and blood on her face. She had bit her tongue. It was going to be one of those days.
Chris's car was in the shop so I was his designated driver for the morning. During the drive he convinced me to forgo my Thursday laundry day schedule and spend some time outside nurturing our little wounded bud. She needed the extra attention and love after such a stressful morning, and honestly so did I. I took her home, after doubling back to the school to give Chris his keys that he forgot in the car, gave her some breakfast, strapped on her shoes and drove to the park. She fell asleep in the car and surprisingly stayed asleep during the transfer to the stroller. I found a tree, leaned back and started reading. It was a perfect moment. I looked up at the blue sky peaking through the overhead branches, smiled at my daughter peacefully sleeping, and said a thankful prayer as a short breeze whistled past. It was going to be one of those days...and it was, perfect in every way.
Chris's car was in the shop so I was his designated driver for the morning. During the drive he convinced me to forgo my Thursday laundry day schedule and spend some time outside nurturing our little wounded bud. She needed the extra attention and love after such a stressful morning, and honestly so did I. I took her home, after doubling back to the school to give Chris his keys that he forgot in the car, gave her some breakfast, strapped on her shoes and drove to the park. She fell asleep in the car and surprisingly stayed asleep during the transfer to the stroller. I found a tree, leaned back and started reading. It was a perfect moment. I looked up at the blue sky peaking through the overhead branches, smiled at my daughter peacefully sleeping, and said a thankful prayer as a short breeze whistled past. It was going to be one of those days...and it was, perfect in every way.
Beans, beans and more beans...
Jan 28, 2011
A couple of weekends ago we took our usual Saturday morning family outing to the cute little cafe (Rialto) down the street for breakfast. We love this place, it is our little weekend splurge. Chris ordered the huevos rancheros, and after Scarlett scarfed down all of Chris's beans we realized we finally hit the jackpot. Something other than avocado that Scarlett would eat. So for the past week Scarlett's diet has consisted of cheese, beans and avocados. These are the only things she will eat without taking a bite and immediately spitting out. Breakfast, lunch and dinner have become hours of sitting in her high chair, me offering a new type of food, being rejected, giving up and feeding her avocado, beans and cheese (and sometimes eggs for breakfast). Oh the joys of a toddler in training.
For those of you with kids...any suggestions for convincing your kid that eating is fun?
For those of you with kids...any suggestions for convincing your kid that eating is fun?
Mama...
Jan 26, 2011
The most amazing sound in the world, other than Scarlett's laughter, is hearing her say mama, and have it be directed toward me. Sunday morning I woke up, propped Scarlett against the pillows of our bed bottle in hand, dad by her side, and took advantage of the brief moment of peace and jumped in the shower. Five minutes later I was laughing out loud to the sound of little fists banging on the bathroom door and a tiny voice calling "mama", "mama". I finished my shower and opened the door I saw her smiling face looking up at me as happy as can be, waiting for me to greet her.
She came into the bathroom with me and immediately went to the tub, raising her leg as high as she could to tell me that she wanted to get in. I stripped her down to her diaper and let her spend the next fifteen minutes drawing on the walls with her bath crayons. As I dried my hair, I would casually sneak a peek of this little person, entertaining herself by switching from purple to blue to green and back to purple. Little squiggles on the tile and circles on the floor.
I assume with more kids comes more chaos and less time to appreciate the little things. The artistic creation of blue crayon smeared on the bathroom walls, the sound of "mama" ringing down the hall, the pitter patter of a new walker and the thud of hands catching her inevitable fall. These moments are my life and I cherish every one, because I know some day when Scarlett doesn't want to cuttle or kiss me goodbye or calls me "mom" with a undertone of annoyance in her voice, I can look back and smile at the image of my little girl anxiously banging on the bathroom door yelling "mama".
Messy hair and bottles...
Jan 25, 2011
We still give Scarlett a bottle before naps and bed time at night. I know this is something that I am going to slowly stop giving her, but for now how can I give up these special moments...
Ever since Scarlett was born she calms herself down by playing with hair. Sometimes she will gravitate toward her own, but most of the time she reaches for mine. If my hair is up and my bangs are out of my face she WILL find any piece of hair she can by any means possible. She will pull, dig, and yank until a strand or two sets themselves free of my ponytail and lands swiftly into the torture of her chubby baby hands. By the time she finally closes her eyes and finishes her bottle, my neck has a kink and my hair needs some serious love and attention.
Ever since Scarlett was born she calms herself down by playing with hair. Sometimes she will gravitate toward her own, but most of the time she reaches for mine. If my hair is up and my bangs are out of my face she WILL find any piece of hair she can by any means possible. She will pull, dig, and yank until a strand or two sets themselves free of my ponytail and lands swiftly into the torture of her chubby baby hands. By the time she finally closes her eyes and finishes her bottle, my neck has a kink and my hair needs some serious love and attention.
Movie Monday...
Jan 24, 2011
Finger-painting fail...
This weekend Scarlett tried finger painting with her friend Cecily. Apparently when the box says 3+ they mean it.
This weekend Scarlett tried finger painting with her friend Cecily. Apparently when the box says 3+ they mean it.
Labels:
movie
Dancing in the car...
Jan 22, 2011
My favorite part of any day is dancing in the car with Scarlett. She feels the beat and becomes so overwhelmed with the desire to dance that every part of her moves. First the head bopping up and down to the rhythm, in and out, side to side, any way to get the blood flowing. As soon as her neck tires she throws in a few claps, usually just two or three before realizing that clapping just isn't enough. Then come the feet. Those tiny little feet attached to tiny little legs, unable to kick up and down as hard as she would like so she settles back into the head. She looks up at me in the rear view mirror with a 6 tooth smile that melts my heart. I tell her she is silly, we laugh and shake our body until we get tired. Looking at her sweet face I am completely content, knowing that I get to create this moment again tomorrow.
There is most definitely a will...
Jan 21, 2011
Scarlett has recently taken to never eating, throwing her head back in tantrum mode and wiggling her bottom in my arms when being carried, each accompanied by a scream, yell and cry. She is asserting her will and I am trying to respect it and encourage her to make her own decisions while showing her that I still have the final say.
I have been catching myself telling her "no" before she touches the fireplace screen or rips the straw out of her juice box and turns it upside down. I want there to be a action before my reaction but it is so hard to stop myself from stopping her from making the "wrong" decision. She hears my "no" and what could have been a simple spit out of food becomes an angry tantrum of spoon throwing and yogurt in the hair, nose, eyes, carpet, shirt, and chair.
Scarlett's Godparents, two people whose parenting style I very highly respect, give their children choices. They speak to their children like adults with a full realization that they are still children. By giving their children options and choices they are letting them assert their will while still giving guidelines as to what the correct choice might be. They are teaching them that each action will have a consequence, good or bad, depending on the choices that they make. Although Scarlett still lacks the attention span or a full grasp on the English language, I want to start giving her choices. I want her to be able to touch the fireplace screen, to get ash on her hands and soot on her face. My immediate "no" is strengthening her willful nature, her reaction to "no" is harsher than my allowing her to fall into the unlit fireplace, realizing on her own that falling is a consequence of brushing her hand along the screen. By stopping her from making a choice I am hindering her ability to choose and further hindering the lessons that come from choosing. I only hope that the older she gets the more I am able to distance myself from the "easy" route of stopping the wrong choice for her before the choice is even made. I hope that she never looses her willfulness and that by allowing her choices now, I can help guide her to make the right ones in the future.
I have been catching myself telling her "no" before she touches the fireplace screen or rips the straw out of her juice box and turns it upside down. I want there to be a action before my reaction but it is so hard to stop myself from stopping her from making the "wrong" decision. She hears my "no" and what could have been a simple spit out of food becomes an angry tantrum of spoon throwing and yogurt in the hair, nose, eyes, carpet, shirt, and chair.
Scarlett's Godparents, two people whose parenting style I very highly respect, give their children choices. They speak to their children like adults with a full realization that they are still children. By giving their children options and choices they are letting them assert their will while still giving guidelines as to what the correct choice might be. They are teaching them that each action will have a consequence, good or bad, depending on the choices that they make. Although Scarlett still lacks the attention span or a full grasp on the English language, I want to start giving her choices. I want her to be able to touch the fireplace screen, to get ash on her hands and soot on her face. My immediate "no" is strengthening her willful nature, her reaction to "no" is harsher than my allowing her to fall into the unlit fireplace, realizing on her own that falling is a consequence of brushing her hand along the screen. By stopping her from making a choice I am hindering her ability to choose and further hindering the lessons that come from choosing. I only hope that the older she gets the more I am able to distance myself from the "easy" route of stopping the wrong choice for her before the choice is even made. I hope that she never looses her willfulness and that by allowing her choices now, I can help guide her to make the right ones in the future.
Animal week for Scarlett...
Jan 20, 2011
This week two of our three weekly baby sitters where on vacation so the subs stepped in.
Monday was Zoo day...
Tuesday Aunt Ashley took her to visit a horse which apparently she thought was an oversized dog because she kept saying "woof".
Wednesday Aunt Breanna took her for a walk and ran into a couple of little piggy's.
What does the rest of the week have in store? So far only Dexter, the boring old house dog.
Monday was Zoo day...
Tuesday Aunt Ashley took her to visit a horse which apparently she thought was an oversized dog because she kept saying "woof".
Wednesday Aunt Breanna took her for a walk and ran into a couple of little piggy's.
Things I definitely didn't teach Scarlett..
Jan 19, 2011
- To pull on her eyelashes when she is tired
- Grabbing her private parts every time she is exposed
- Redecorating any room we enter
- Throwing her food on the floor while looking straight in my eyes, shaking her head "no" as if to say "I don't want this you fool"
- Keeping food in her checks for half an hour and then spitting it out wherever she decides she is done, then stepping on it...yes, this is my favorite habit she has picked up so far.
- Taking her "non leaking" sippy cup and turning it upside down to create a "fun" puddle on the floor to play with
- Opening EVERY cupboard in the house, throwing everything on the floor and when satisfied with her pile moving on to the next cupboard to fulfill her secret mission to empty EVERY cabinet.
Scarlett goes to the zoo...
Jan 18, 2011
and has no idea what to think of it.
99.9% of the time she kept a face of stone, only reaching out to the monkeys once, the .1% of time in which she showed a slight interest in anything other than the groupings of children standing next to her pointing out the same monkeys, was when she saw two chickens wandering the grounds. Chickens? Really? Monkeys, picking fleas, swinging effortlessly from branch to rope right in front of her eyes, big ones, small ones, fuzzy ones, bald ones, and she wanted to chase the chickens? Was it the thrill of the chase? Knowing that they were free and there was a small chance that she could actually touch them. Or maybe she is like her dad and seeing animals in cages makes her sad. She was thrilled with the idea that these chickens had somehow found freedom from the small world of cages, plastic trees and makeshift wooden boxes supplying shelter from the greedy eyes of children.
Mostly I think she longed for the thrill of introduction. She stood in the middle of the grass, one hand in dad's and the other waving "hi" to the chickens. Here first words were "hi" and "bye, bye". She loves greeting strangers in the super market or at the park. She loves saying "bye, bye" to her dad in the mornings or before bed. She treated the chickens like any other living, moving thing deserving a proper greeting. She said "hi" when first approaching and "bye, bye" when they waddled out of her sight. When one chicken left the grass, she pursued the other till it too got tired of pecking the ground at her feet. Both chickens were gone and she was stone faced once more, surveying the grounds for something else to chase with her new found legs and friendly disposition.
99.9% of the time she kept a face of stone, only reaching out to the monkeys once, the .1% of time in which she showed a slight interest in anything other than the groupings of children standing next to her pointing out the same monkeys, was when she saw two chickens wandering the grounds. Chickens? Really? Monkeys, picking fleas, swinging effortlessly from branch to rope right in front of her eyes, big ones, small ones, fuzzy ones, bald ones, and she wanted to chase the chickens? Was it the thrill of the chase? Knowing that they were free and there was a small chance that she could actually touch them. Or maybe she is like her dad and seeing animals in cages makes her sad. She was thrilled with the idea that these chickens had somehow found freedom from the small world of cages, plastic trees and makeshift wooden boxes supplying shelter from the greedy eyes of children.
Mostly I think she longed for the thrill of introduction. She stood in the middle of the grass, one hand in dad's and the other waving "hi" to the chickens. Here first words were "hi" and "bye, bye". She loves greeting strangers in the super market or at the park. She loves saying "bye, bye" to her dad in the mornings or before bed. She treated the chickens like any other living, moving thing deserving a proper greeting. She said "hi" when first approaching and "bye, bye" when they waddled out of her sight. When one chicken left the grass, she pursued the other till it too got tired of pecking the ground at her feet. Both chickens were gone and she was stone faced once more, surveying the grounds for something else to chase with her new found legs and friendly disposition.
We have a little artist on our hands...
Jan 13, 2011
The other day I was sitting in one room and heard scratches on the wall, I recognized the sound of chalk scratching on a surface and I thought to myself "Scarlett must be drawing on the the chalk board". My mommy brain forgot for a moment that the chalk board is four feet from the floor, unless Scarlett grew a foot or two in the last five minutes, Scarlett had found the chalk in the closet and was drawing on the wall. An artist with a blank canvas...
Movie Monday
Jan 10, 2011
Friday night I got the chance to spend some one on one time with a sick baby Scarlett. I finally got some energy out of her by setting up photobooth on Chris's computer, put on some music and letting her go crazy.
Labels:
movie
Hopeful cleaning...
Jan 9, 2011
After searching and searching we finally found a maid. We are hoping if we start her early (and by early I mean her second day of actual walking), she might actually "like" to clean her room when she turns 13. Wishful thinking?
News flash
Jan 8, 2011
As of today, we have a walker...I think we took four different videos to capture "the moment", but this one captured it the best, enjoy!
Leaving already?
Jan 5, 2011
Scarlett has taken to putting her diaper bag on her shoulder, crawling to the door and saying "bye, bye".
Is there a mommy badge for this?
Jan 4, 2011
Imagine this scene, peacefully driving to church Sunday morning, Scarlett taking her “in the car before church” nap, me listening to Puzzle Master Will Shortz on NPR, when suddenly we are both rudely awakened by a watery cough and the sour smell of regurgitated yogurt (Scarlett had a little bit of sickness that morning that we blamed on sour milk, no big deal right…totally wrong). I cursed the rain as the windows remained shut and the smell slowly surrounded me making my stomach churn. I made a u-turn and headed back to the church while reaching for my phone to call Chris and tell him that the youth will have to excuse his absence but we have a sick smelly baby and a soon to be sick mother on our hands, only to find…you guessed it…no phone. I was going to have to clean Scarlett up, finagle her puke covered smelly clothes over her head, wrap her in a blanket and run up to the youth room letting the putrid smell of Scarlett leave a trail behind us. I grabbed all the napkins I could find in my glove compartment, held my breath and dove in for clean up duty. It was disgusting. Seriously…I have NEVER had to do anything like this. I would gladly change diapers for the rest of my life, the newborn kind, the really stinky sticky kind.
Scarlett is finally getting her appetite back after suffering from the flu for five days. FIVE DAYS of no food…Chris thought she was going to wither away to nothing before she was able to keep food down again. I thought I was going to go crazy reminding him "no food for 24 hours...only clear liquids...I promise she will be okay". So here we are, Scarlett survived the loss of a few pounds, I survived reminding Chris every five minutes, that we would all come out of this alive, and Chris survived the kind of worry only a father can feel for his little baby girl. An experience that I am sure will not be the last, for now I will add the first flu badge to my mommy sash.
It's a new year
Jan 3, 2011
Happy new year to all...our January 1st started at 2 in the morning driving from San Bernardino to Fullerton with a baby in the back, laughing and ready to play. Chris and I have made it official, Scarlett refuses to sleep in the same room with us.
Thank you Bairds for a wonderful new years eve...sorry we had to sneak out in the middle of the night, it was to keep the sanity of the rest of the sleeping house.
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