Friday, September 26, 2008

Crossing a city bridge

"Oh my god! Look Will! Deer!"

"Car . . . Car."

"Look! Across the highway!"

"Car. Car. Bussss!"

"Over there. Three deer! Beside all those cars."

"Car. Truh! Car."

"Yes, I see them. Lots of cars."

Sigh.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

Lullaby

Last night Will was congested and miserable and having trouble falling back asleep. I found myself singing the medley that has helped calm her - and me - for the past 18 months.
When the night has come, and the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we see
I won't be afraid, no I won't be afraid
As long as you stand by me

So darlin' darlin' stand by me
Oh stand by me
Oh darlin, stand by me

And I'll be your cryin' shoulder
I'll be your lullaby
I'll be there as you grow older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life

'Cause I know
That I am, I am, I am
The luckiest
(Thanks to Ben E. King, the Goo Goo Dolls and Ben Folds for the inspiration.)

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Prelude to a Potty

Will has just woken up from her nap. We're in the bathroom. I flush and wash my hands. She goes over to the toilet and points.

"Yes, sweetie. That's the toilet."

She lifts the lid and points again.

"Do you want to sit on the toilet?"

She looks at me and points again.

"Do you want me to take off your diaper so you can sit on the big potty?"

She nods, very carefully, up and down.

I take her diaper off - it's dry! - and set her on the toilet. She waits, then puts out her arms to come down. As soon as I take her off, she points again and reaches up for me to lift her up.

Again, I put her on the toilet. We wait. She anxiously squirms to get down.

We go into her room. She sits on her playmat quietly and pees.

We are off to get a potty!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Of bad dreams and restless nights (following restful nights, which makes it worse)

I don't know what was up with Will last night. She hasn't been what anyone would call "a good sleeper" since she was about 5 months old, but she really has been doing better since we moved into the house. Even this weekend when her routine was thrown totally off, she actually slept through the night Friday - without a wakeup, a very rare occasion in this family - from midnight until 6 am, and then into our bed until 8! Yesterday she had a fairly normal day, albeit with a short nap, but her bedtime routine went on as usual.

I think she lasted an hour before the first awakening. And they were screaming, bolt upright from a nightmare wakeups. We tried rubbing her back, Advil, snuggling. She even freaked out when I walked across the room to turn her music back on! She always went back to sleep, but would wake up terrified another 40 or so minutes later.

Finally when I was ready for bed, I asked her if she wanted to snuggle with Mama and she pointed at the guest room where we sometimes sleep. And then sweetly waved goodnight to Daddy.

It really seemed like bad dreams to me. She kept herself pressed against me as close as possible in the night, even when she was fast asleep. I even had to take her with me to the bathroom!

Or maybe her mind is just processing so much she just couldn't shut down her thoughts last night.

Let's hope she has a more restful night tonight.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Random food-related facts

1) I cannot dip a french fry into ketchup before biting the top off. The same goes for chicken or anything else with a dipping sauce. I feel like the sauce won't do anything for the other food unless it can really get in there.

2) I think of the round side of bread as female and the square side as male. I always slice the bread this way (although sometimes on a bit of a diagonal).

3) I like to eat all of the components of my meal together. Unlike my husband, I don't eat the fries first, and I would rather eat the salad with the rest of the food.

4) I hate mayonnaise and am mistrustful of most spreads. I would rather eat my sandwiches plain, or as my sister calls it, "so dry."

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Just don't look too closely at my face

Is it really that embarrassing that my glasses have two different arms?

It was an emergency situation. I was trying to distract Will with the case (not the smartest thing to use as a toy, I know), not realizing she could now pop it open and pull out the glasses inside. Before I could snatch them away, there was a quick twist and SNAP! My glasses were ruined. And of course, we were in the car and I was wearing my sunglasses, so she broke my actual, everyday glasses that I cannot live without.

I needed a quick fix and tape wouldn't cut it (now that would be embarrassing). The first optician place was no help whatsoever: the women informed me in their Eastern European accents that they did not keep any spare parts in the store. Um, right. Fortunately, the guy at Hakim was able to find a relatively close match and install (?) it for ten bucks. Hurrah!

The only problem has been the difference in arm lengths. The glasses very easily fall off my face, and always at the most inopportune times (during diaper changes, for example).

I guess it wouldn't be that embarrassing if this accident had happened yesterday. I am going to the eye doctor next week and will have a new pair within a few days. But the truth is, I've been wearing these mismatched frames for, um, over two months now.

I guess that says a lot about my sense of style. Or the state in which I will allow myself to leave the house. Or my general lack of motivation to complete (even important) mundane tasks.

But I am planning to shave my legs before swimming today! Really.

Friday, September 12, 2008

A little bit country, a little bit growing old

Instead of my J. Crew catalogue, yesterday I received one from Orvis (a company I don't know) focusing on their "Montana Morning" collection.

First, I was struck by the age of the models. Am I suddenly in the "old lady" demographic of clothing? When I'm in the mall will I be directed away from the Gap and Jacob, and shuffled towards stores like Orvis and Tabi?

(When we were in the mall last weekend, Will suddenly needed to, um, do her business. I snuck into the Gap while my husband stayed with her in the main thoroughfare. Suddenly, she made a beeline into (the empty) Tabi store, found her way to the back corner and squatted. Was it the privacy? The wrinkle free, high-collared shirts? Who knows.)

Flipping through the Orvis catalogue, I tried to imagine myself wearing the "Batik-Print Duster" with its ancient cave drawing motif. Or the "Tapestry Corduroy Skirt" in "sumptuous rose and camel." Or maybe the drawstring denim (or "split skirt" of very wide pants).

I suddenly feel the need to buy something at Hollister or Forever 21. No? Maybe just a new shirt from Jacob.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Things I've been doing instead of blogging

1) Resurrecting my dream of being an Olympic gymnast.

(Seriously, Oksana Chusovitina is my age. Okay, she's one year younger, but she won a silver medal! At 33 years old! And for the record, I will not be 34 for another few weeks.)

2) Completing the process of unpacking.

(All right. Continuing the process of unpacking. But now it's really just hanging the art. Really. And hiding the one box of CDs that is inexplicably next to the kitchen table.)

3) Chasing neighbours out of my backyard.

(That one comes with its own post.)

4) Wrangling a toddler.

Does that justify my neglect? Only if I start making it up, now, right? Okay, I'm on that.