35 posts tagged “nablopomo”

Out with a whimper

Nov 30, 2008
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Sigh.

I had the best intentions for this November's daily posts. I was not only going to write daily content - I was going to write daily content that was witty! and meaningful! and full of wry insight! Instead, I managed a measly 23 posts - 24 if you count this one, which I might as well - and only half or so of those worth reading.

If you managed a post a day this month, even thirty brief or misspelled or pointless posts, I tip my hat to you. And if you managed to write well, daily, thirty times in a row - well, you seem as though you have a lot of free time, would you like to babysit my kids?

Desperate

Nov 26, 2008
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Aaron was - quite understandably - rather concerned when I called him at 9:30 this morning in a state of significant distress because I couldn't figure out how to uncork a bottle of wine. He was probably already making a guest list for my intervention before I explained that I needed it for my turkey brine.

Here is a confession: Before today, I had never removed a cork from a bottle before. I guess this is one of the advantages to having married right out of college - ever since I've been able to afford wine that doesn't have a screw-top, I've had a man around to open it for me. Still, I felt awfully helpless and girly having Aaron walk me through using a corkscrew (on video chat from his office, no less).

Anyway, now my turkey is gently floating in its bath of saltwater, onion, spices, and Riesling. I've never done a turkey this way before, so all my hopes are in Martha Stewart being as fabulous as she claims to be. If it doesn't turn out, not only will we be eating salty turkey, but I will have dropped $7 on a jar of fennel seeds I'll never use again ($7 that could buy several bottles of screw-top wine). Don't let me down, Martha.

Kama Kamikiliki!

Nov 25, 2008
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Had a rough morning? Really need a laugh? Try teaching your preschooler to say "Mele Kalikimaka." Funniest thing ever.

Weary

Nov 24, 2008
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I am exhausted. I am coping, but I am exhausted.

Ever since THE CROUP, Peter's preferred* sleep position is nestled against me, with my boob in his mouth. All night. The good news is - as soon as he starts acting sleepy, all I have to do is undo my nursing bra and - voila! Sleeping baby. The bad news is - it's not like I can just sit and nurse him for hours, twice a day, what with having those other two children to care for. And the other bad news is - our bed just ain't big enough for the three of us.

*Read: the only method that results in actual sleep rather than hours of wailing.

I'm at a loss. If Aaron weren't so chronically tired, I could maybe rely on him to help with the nights and together we could muscle through this, get through the sleepless week or two of sleep training Peter needs to learn to sleep well in his bed. But Aaron is exhausted too, and a sleepy daddy is a crabby daddy, and I can't bring myself to ask him to temporarily sleep even less to make this work. Even though it would result in more sleep for all of us in the long run, we still have to survive the short run.

I truly didn't think we were going to have this problem with Peter. How is it that my baby who slept through the night at two and a half months is now, at nearly six months, waking four or five or six times a night? What a colossal failure I feel like, for letting it get this bad.

He like to move it, move it

Nov 23, 2008
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Way back in the days of labor fake-outs (remember those?) I predicted that Peter would be a stealth ninja baby. As it turns out, I was right: the wee boy has been increasingly mobile this month, but stealthily so. When I put him down on the floor to play, he doesn't appear to be moving - so I'll look away to stop Noah from pounding David with a block or crack open another Diet Coke, and when I look back he'll be at the other side of the room, gumming an electrical cord. That's strange, I'll think, I don't remember putting him down near such an obvious hazard, but I didn't see him moving, so perhaps I did... I'd write it off as slipshod parenting, except for the slug-trail of drool on the carpet leading back to where he started. Ninja baby!

A few weeks ago I remarked to Aaron that what I needed to do was install a time-lapse camera on the living room ceiling to get a better idea of how Peter moves. This didn't pan out, of course, but now that his movements are becoming a little more defined, I took a movie with our digital camera. Please excuse the poor lighting - here in the upper midwest, we won't see the sun again until April, and we're making do with rather shadowy interior lights.

So, here is Peter, age five-and-two-thirds months, aiming for the remote control:

Peter - Ninja Crawling!

P.S. - Yes, I completely dropped the NaBloPoMo ball. What can I say? I don't even have a good excuse - just that for two days in a row, I totally forgot about blogging until after I was already in bed, and I just couldn't work up the enthusiasm to get up and try to write something. Sorry, universe - maybe next year.

A woman's work, etc.

Nov 20, 2008
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A whirlwind day today, a day that made me appreciate my stepmom and empathize with the constant manic pace she kept with six busy kids. I teach a scrapbooking class once a month as part of a recreational therapy program at a local rehab hospital - and Aaron, who usually rearranges his schedule to keep the boys for the afternoon, couldn't get away, leaving me faced with finding places for them. So - the dance of getting all three fed and out the door, Noah and Peter to friends' houses and David to preschool and myself to class just in time, then back to school for David only a minute late for pick-up, and retrieving Peter and Noah and stopping at the bank and the pharmacy and the library and then dashing home to await their grandparents, who took the older two out for dinner to give me a break while Aaron worked late - bless them, a chance to make a vat of soup for the freezer and run a load through the dishwasher. Phew.

The only thing keeping me from complete collapse is caffeine. If I ever win an award for anything, my acceptance speech will have to start with "I'd like to thank Diet Coke."

Moon Eyes

Nov 19, 2008
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True story: Way back in the distant past, when I was just a slip of a girl, I had a crush on a kindergarten classmate. Derek was handsome, funny, smart, well-dressed - everything a five-year-old lass could want. I used to spend recess trying to kiss him, and while he didn't exactly kiss back, he didn't try to run away, either.

Of course, he was also wheelchair-bound. But still. Young love!

I thought of this today when I was waiting in line to pick up David from preschool. There are eighteen five-year-olds in David's class, fifteen of whom are boys. The three girls usually keep to themselves in a little huddle where they can talk about princesses or ponies or shoe shopping or whatever it is five-year-old girls talk about, while the boys battle with pretend light sabers and make monster truck noises and accidentally-on-purpose knock each other down and the two teachers grimace and look harried and certainly don't make nearly enough.

But not today. Today when the kids came down the steps to the benches where they wait to be picked up, a girl - a ROGUE GIRL - broke free from the huddle and sat down next to my boy. AND PUT HER ARM AROUND HIM AND STARTED SNUGGLING. David carried on his conversation with his friends, oblivious to the snuggling he was being subjected to, while she snuggled away.

In the van on the way home, I asked David about her, as carefully as I could. Her name, first of all, which I admit I should know because I've been to preschool events half a dozen times this year, but the names of the kids who aren't David's immediate friends escape me. Her name is Sarah, he replied, and for good measure added: "Nicholas says she doesn't love me. But Sarah says she does."

I distinctly remember my mother teasing when she found out about my crush on Derek: "A-bi's got a boy-friend!" I hated it, so I willed myself not react. "Oh, she does? Does she love anyone else in your class?" No, just David. And does he love her? Yes, he loves her. He loves everyone in his class. And everyone loves him. They are all friends.

But. Sarah does not love everyone, she specifically loves David. Also, they are learning about Native Americans this week in honor of Thanksgiving, and David would like me to know that his Indian name is Rising Sun, and Sarah's Indian name is Moon Eyes. He does not know any of the other kids' Indian names.*

So. David seems oblivious to the fact that this little girl has a crush on him. How long do you suppose little miss Moon Eyes will have to make moony eyes at him before he realizes that she wants to be his squaw?

(*Note: I would like my Indian name to be She-Who-Does-Not-Accept-Blankets-From-White-Man.)

NaBloPo--Ow.

Nov 18, 2008
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If you had any idea of the migraine I had right now you would blink back tears on my behalf for the effort it's taking me to squint at the screen and write this. But!, like a dedicated blogger, I am squinting and writing and oh sob, is this month over yet?

Also: I started Christmas shopping for the kids today! Query: With as sporadically as David and Noah get along, does it make me brilliant or insane to buy them weapons for Christmas? On the one hand, I'd rather they pelt each other with foam projectiles than with Legos and Matchbox cars; on the other hand, it may not be in anyone's best interest to arm them, even if it's only with Nerf guns. I've another five weeks to decide, anyway.

Also, also: Does anyone know where I can get a kid-friendly world globe for under $20?

Okay, daily blogging obligation met. Wincing off to bed now.

Almost forgot!

Nov 17, 2008
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We were headed up the stairs to bed, five minutes to midnight, when I did a comical forehead slap and exclaimed, "Crap! I forgot to blog!" So here I am.

I have two different posts half-written and saved as drafts, but neither is polished enough to post tonight. Instead, here is a video for you to watch!

Helping Hands With Ryan, Colin & Whoopi Goldberg

Super Sharpie!

Nov 16, 2008
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Aaron works in video production at our church, and I usually spend Sunday mornings in his video room with him. Most of the time, I'm pretty good about paying attention to the sermon on the video monitors, but other times...well, other times it doesn't take much to trigger my ADD. Here is this morning's trigger: