Okay, This is What They Were Talking About

Many of my friends have babies (now kids) and I read a blog or two about perfect strangers and their parenting adventures. I've been perplexed over the last ten months when I've read about how hard they find parenting. I've certainly had moments when I've thought to myself, "I could use another hour or ten of sleep" but overall, it's not been terribly hard work.

As your gross motor skills have improved (crawling, pulling up) I now read and process those conversations with a new understanding. Crimeny, this is hard! I've glimpsed the future and the future is...exhausting. But also stunningly interesting and fun and quirky and delightful.

Learning to see the world through your eyes requires shedding the veil of old and boring. Nothing is old or boring. Not the potpourri that has been in a bowl by the fireplace since the 1980s or the dust pan with who-knows-what stuck to it or the anti-skid mats that seem to be under every rug you peer under! There are treasures untold in the pantry and STAIRS, STAIRS, STAIRS. What happens when you stick you finger here?

For parents who have grown accustomed to the world, entering your universe is exhausting. Learning (anew) to comprehend the joy in finding crumbs on the floor and swinging doors that open and close is taxing work. We've grown accustomed to thinking of these little miracles as details to be glossed over on our way to the main event. We usually don't know what the main event is; but we actively seek it just the same. The main event, you seem to believe, is the sound of the paper tearing, the speed at which you can dart out of the room and the texture of Peanut's fur. My work, it appears, is to make sure you can explore safely in a world where these miracles are omnipresent. That means I have to find those little miracles too, to anticipate where you might be headed next on your grand adventure (NOT down the stairs head first). If I can find the joy in this, and I'm thinking that it won't always be easy, then your gift to me will be remarkable. The world will be a more wonder-ful place.

To be fair to Daniel -- who I may have maligned in a previous post -- you now find the dog food miraculous too.Mail is very interesting

Marian battles the stairsStairs -1 Marian-0. Red spot on the forehead is the only battle wound.

Hello Kiefer-Pop, I Think I Love You

In our recent kitchen purge we came across the popsicle sticks that MamaG used to make frozen yogurt treats for me when I was a little girl. After a few wash and rinse cycles they were ready for the new generation of frozen goodness. Nothing beats a kiefer treat on a hot day. Okay, lots of things beat kiefer but you don't know anything about ice cream, mojitos or fudgesicles yet...

Houston, we have liftoff!

You are mobile. In a remarkable feat of endurance, determination and sheer core strength you've managed to lift your 24 pound caboose off the ground and get your legs underneath you. It hasn't been easy, and it still isn't graceful, but there's nothing else to call it but crawling. I was happy with the sitting thing, I'm learning to live with the crawling.

Our next door neighbor, Daniel, is one month older than you and has been crawling since he was about five months old, even before he was able to sit. He has a four year old brother who is light-of-foot so keeping up with him was prime motivation. I've watched his mother chase two kids across the front lawn for months now and smirked as we sat motionless on the dog's blanket, taking in a little vitamin D and discussing pretty flowers, kitty cats and the construction trucks that go by in and endless procession.

For the past two mornings we've kept Daniel for an hour or two while his mom and dad pack up their house (alas, they are moving). I've declared I will never open a daycare center. I also think he is a bad influence. Keeping up with Daniel while trying to keep an eye on you is nearly impossible. Mobility speeds are not the only difference. Your table manners, it turns out, are quite refined. Daniel takes a handful of cereal and shoves it in the general direction of his mouth. Whatever makes it in is swallowed without chewing. You, my little lady, pick up one "o" at a time with your thumb and forefinger and delicately place it in the front of your mouth where your teeth ( have I mentioned emerging dos chiclet?) slowly grind the cereal to a mushy pulp. Then you clap your hands together to sign that you would like more, please. Peanut, smart pup that she is, set up camp underneath Daniel. The bounty distracted Peanut from the fact that Daniel was raiding her dog bowl. I had to extract two pieces of kibble from his mouth (which I might add was hard a steel trap to open and full of razor sharp teeth) while he screamed in bloody protest. You have never attempted to eat dog food.

This morning when Daniel's mom came to pick him up you crawled from the living room to the front door. See what I mean? That Daniel's a bad influence. Then you were so worn out by your active morning that you had a complete melt-down, followed by a nap. All that's to say that crawling around may have caused us to miss swimming. I'm sure you agree, it may not be worth it.

A Word to the Wise

If you can't fit your taxes on a 1040-EZ form please don't follow in your parents footsteps. Find a competent, knowledgeable person (i.e. a tax professional) to help.

There is much to report (pictures of our new rooms to post, updates on your mobility to write about) but due to the fact that it is April 15th I cannot go into it at the moment. We're getting ready to deliver W-2s to your poppa at work. No swimming for us today...bummer.