Sad, excited, hungry

1. Rachel and I went to the hospital today to visit my grandpa. I hate seeing him there. He looked so small and weak. 

2. The neighbor across the street was out with her dog when Rachel and I went out to get the mail. Rachel stood on the sidewalk watching, alternately barking and panting, so excited to see a live animal. On the walk back to the house, she did a slow motion tumble that ended in a face plant on the sidewalk. Thankfully it was so slow and she’s so low to the ground, so she didn’t end up getting scraped or bruised, just very sad.

3. Rachel ate her dinner exceptionally well tonight and I thought she was done so I was cleaning her up. I was about to take her out of the highchair when she frantically signed and said ‘more, more, more’. Ha. Never know with her. She ate a handful of kix and then a bunch of the roasted broccoli that I made for S and me (I make enough for her too, but we eat our dinner a bit later than her most evenings).

Big world

1. We spent time outside after lunch today and I found out Rachel is scared of the dry leaves. Anytime the wind sent one skittering too close to her feet, she’d shriek and look at me, whimpering. I picked one up to show her it couldn’t do anything, but she remained skeptical. I think she’s forgotten that less than four months ago she was outside trying to eat the dry leaves.

2. Watching Rachel eat her banana half as if it was an ear of corn.

3. Mixing up crepe batter for tomorrow morning. We’re doing savory, which I’ve never had.

New shoes, playful, complete

1. We went shopping for Rachel’s first real pair of shoes after story hour this morning. I put them on her after we got home and she protested loudly over them while I made lunch. After lunch we went outside and she forgot she had them on. It felt nice to be sitting in the sun again, and Rachel must have had a song from the library stuck in her head, because she was humming and breaking some dance moves on the sidewalk.

2. Sitting on the floor with S this evening, enjoying Rachel’s antics around the living room.

3. Finishing a Christmas stocking. It’s early, but now I can pack them away. Maybe I’ll get an early start on ornaments too.

Alpacas hum!

1. Toddlers are so inefficient. Rachel will eat peas, but usually only if I stab them with her fork. Sometimes she’ll eat them right off the fork properly, but most of the time she pulls them off one by one to eat them. If one gets squashed on the way, it’s rejected and smashed on the tray as unfit for consumption. Once in a while she suddenly gets extremely excited about them and shoves them into her mouth in fistfuls. 

2. I’ve been meaning to find out what noises alpacas make ever since we gave Rachel a Fisher Price set of farm animals. I pulled up YouTube and found out that they hum. If you look away from the screen, you can imagine you’re hearing a room of young toddlers whining for their moms. We were all amused. Now I hold up the alpaca and hum at Rachel and she opens her mouth to eat the alpaca (to make me stop? Who knows). Hopefully we’ll take her to see some live animals in person this summer.

3. Today’s been the kind of day where I drink my coffee and then can’t remember drinking it, so I look in the sink and there is my rinsed mug, so I must have.

Sleepy, more, home

1. Rachel woke up early today and was so sleepy that after she finished nursing, she cried a little, laid her head down on my arm and drifted off to sleep again for a few minutes. 

2. S made broccoli soup this weekend and Rachel surprised me by begging for a taste, then wanting more. She gets frantic signing and saying ‘more’. I guess with her continued love of broccoli, I shouldn’t be too surprised. 

3. S texting me a picture of Rachel watching at the door for me to come home while I was at a baby shower yesterday afternoon. I am so glad I have them to come home to.

Yesterday’s grocery trip

1. The store was crowded yesterday, partly from schools being closed, but there seemed to be a larger number of retirees too, and they were either blocking the aisles catching up with each other or cranky because the aisles were blocked. ‘Damn cell phones’, one muttered towards me as she finally broke through a road block.

2. Rachel gets a fair amount of attention at the store, which is ok, but I don’t like the way people (older women) want to touch her. And also people (also older women) seeming annoyed if Rachel doesn’t smile at them when they stop to talk to her. Stranger, danger, people. I’m not going to apologize if my daughter doesn’t smile on command.

3. Rachel has a fascination with bare skin. I think this is because she’s been covered with a dozen (okay, three) layers of clothes since September. She is always so pleased when she’s just in her onesie on the changing table, and sits there rubbing her arms. The cashier yesterday was wearing a short sleeved shirt and Rachel’s hands were out and she was making her ‘ahhh’ noise she makes when she wants to touch. I thought it was funny, and the cashier was out of reach.

4. Grocery shopping is still one of my favorite things to do with Rachel. She’s such a great little shopping companion, interested in everything, and easy to talk to.

Desparate, tidy, sore

1. Rachel chasing after the broom, desperate to get the piece of cereal in my dust pile (She didn’t get it).

2. Organizing the pantry cupboard. I love how tidy it is now and more motivated to work on the bigger areas. Plus, even though that cupboard has a safety latch on it, Rachel can still open it about three inches and now there’s nothing she can grab that is able to be pulled out.

3. Waking up a little sore from a Pilates workout I did yesterday. I’ve gotten into a rut of the same workout dvd and am a little tired of my 5+ years of Jillian Michaels, so it was good to switch things up.

Still hurts, charmer, always my baby

1. It was back to the eye doctor today to get S’s eye checked out again. A new protective contact was put in, so hopefully that will help the eye heal and keep the pain down at night.

2. Rachel and I stayed in the waiting room and even though she mainly stared at everyone, the way she does when she’s in a new situation, she had everyone charmed. The receptionist was waving to her from the window and bringing her stickers, the gentleman sitting near me started making strange noises when she looked at him, and everyone wanted her to wave goodbye when it was their turn to leave.

3. We lowered Rachel’s crib mattress all the way this morning. She looks so small in there again. 

Too many things

1. I’m back at work recording for Librivox some evenings after Rachel goes to bed, and I’m enjoying it. I have a hard time deciding what to do some nights though, between knitting, sewing, reading to myself, or recording – I want to fit it all in, but I go to bed too early to so many different things.

2. Today I successfully worked for a little while in organizing the yellow room after Rachel got up from her afternoon nap. I left a few things out on purpose for her to get into, so she puttered about pretty happily for a while. One of her favorite things to find is a mini Yankee candle I was given a while ago. It’s the perfect size for her to carry around and try to open.

3. Story hour was canceled today because of the snow. I was sad about that. I did go out to shovel this afternoon during Rachel’s nap, and when it wasn’t windy, it was somewhat pleasant out. 

Visiting, coffee, learning

1. Rachel and I visited my younger sisters at their apartment on Monday. It’s a charming place and it was fun to go visiting.

2. I was holding Rachel while measuring out coffee beans and she grabbed three and stuffed them in her mouth before I could stop her. I chased after them and she seemed glad to give them up. Later, when I was drinking my coffee, she wanted it, which is typical, but I tell her it’s hot and mine. Today she responded by trying to blow on it to cool it off.

3. I’ve been reading The Happiest Toddler on the Block and am finding it really interesting. I don’t want to parent from a book, but I have been feeling in need of some tools. Today when I was trying to trim Rachel’s nails, she was fighting and crying like she normally does over it. Instead of trying to get her to stop fighting, I decided to try a method from the book, and responded to her with a slightly dramatic ‘no, no, no, you don’t want your nails trimmed! You say you don’t want to be held still! But we need to clip your nails so you don’t scratch anyone’. She actually settled down and let me clip all her nails without trying to writhe off my lap. Maybe it’s a one time fluke, but it’s worth trying again.