Windows... Another place to draw

Odessa has graced us with her artistic abilty by covering many surfaces with her artwork. Why should the windows be left out?

Lost: One immune system ran away to have better times (reward if found)

I can't believe that I am sick again. My immune system truly must be MIA. I wonder if at-least part of the reasons is Odessa's entrance into "school" although she seems to be the healthiest of us all.


Odessa and I fell asleep at around 9 p.m. ish. Around midnight I woke up coughing and couldn't stop. So I came out to the kitchen and took cough meds and went back to bed. An hour later, I am coughing compulsively which, in turn wakes Odessa up. I tried to do the whole sitting up sleeping thing but it wasn't really helpful. It is time to take out the big guns. At that point I decided that I had no choice but to take the cough med w/ narcotic that I reserve for emergencies. I can't sleep. I am waking Odessa up. And she will likely be up for the day in, like, three hours.


So here is the warning -- I am blogging on narcotics again. I am just trying to give them some time to kick in so that I can crawl back into bed. Which sounds SO NICE. So hopefully I don't say anything stupid or regrettable in my narcotic haze.


My thought at the moment, is that maybe Grandma will be interested in a few qualiy hours with O in the morning so that I can get a few extra hours of shut-eye. Larry is in Canada for the weekend, otherwise it would be all on him. And to add the cherry on top, maybe Grandpa could pick up some donuts or starbucks or something. I think that I am going to need it!

Typing out her first novel

Update on Playschool

Odessa started at daycare/playschool just over a month ago and I think after yesterday's experience it is time for an update. I can't believe it has only been that short of a time -- I guess we are all adjusting very well when I think of it that way!

Yesterday we walked into the classroom coatroom and I proceeded to remove Odessa's sweater and hat. One arm was still in the sweater as she was attempting to enter the classroom by herself, she seemed so excited to be there! Odessa walked right up to the other kids and joined in on the play. She looked up at me and smiled and that was it. No tears, no clinging, no scowl.

This made me so happy -- to know that she is happy there and that I don't need to worry (or at least worry less). I am so happy to see that you are such a confident kid.

And one more toddler eating habit

I don't think any description is neccessary for this one...

Lazy Parenting

Today I was a lazy mom. And one is supposed to "pick their battles" right? And, "no" is becoming my least favorite word ever.

Today Odessa:

• ate cookies for breakfast
• drank almost all of the rootbeer
• ate lunch on the living room floor
• used markers to draw on herself and her clothes (and likely some other places that I haven't yet discovered)
• went outside without shoes
• "painted" with yogurt

And, it isn't even bedtime yet.

Good article (Wondertime magazine): http://wondertime.go.com/parent-to-parent/article/in-praise-of-lazy-parenting.html

Baby Bunny Odessa

And yet another toddler eating habit...

When eating lunch, you insist that your teddy bear sits beside you so that you can "feed" him. Ridiculously adorable.

Wrestling with my inner confusion

So, Odessa missed Wednesday at Daycare due to The Cold. I think that the majority of parents would have sent their kids in O's condition anyway but I just couldn't in good conscience -- I knew she wasn't feeling up to par and she had a quite, drippy nose.

So that means that she hadn't been at school in a week. And the week that it was just me and O together we had a lot of fun. The weather was great so we picked up "num-nums" at Trader Joes (including a hard cider for me), had a little picnic and played in the yard.

Additionally, I feel that I am beginning to understand how to incorporate some of the things that I feel she really benefits from inter our lives. I am getting the idea of setting up a few stations in the living room each day. One day it will be blocks, another a ton of books, etc. And also how to incorporate all the art projects that she loves without my anxiety peaking due to the paint on the carpet and the markers on the wall. Once a day or so, we still gate off the kitchen, bring out our art supplies and create away.

Plus I am getting better about getting out there in situations that I am not familiar with -- playgrounds, mama/baby networking groups, library story time, etc.

Now I feel conflicted (again) about working and having baby O in childcare. I don't think it is harming her -- I am not [too] worried about that. Now I am just starting to feel like I might be getting this whole parenting thing down (I know, only two years into it! [sarcasm]) and that I want to be with my babe during these tender, first years. I am always in a rush, but she will have plenty of years of playschool/preschool later.

The other side of the coin is this: I really like working. And I am worried that if I make this decision, then I will regret it and not be able to go back.

Through all this internal struggle, I also wonder if maybe I just need to take a vacation? I have the time from work but feel bad for using it as I know we have some projects that we are really trying to power through.

2 more thoughts just occurred to me: 1) I feel like having less going on in my life may help me clarify other internal struggles that continue to resurface. And 2) maybe one should avoid all inner conflict conversations with self at 2:30 in the morning.

Addendum: Another problem with posting blogs at 2:30 a.m. -- I totally don't remember writing this stuff! I thought I was dreaming. That makes me wonder if I should be worried about Alzheimer's. But maybe that is mommy-hood?

Another Toddler Eating Habit

After eating yogurt*, turns bowl upside-down, places on head and says "hat".

*strawberry Greek-style, mmmm....

Zoes Cabin March 2008

This past weekend my family spent two days in Zigzag, Oregon. Larry chose not to come for two reasons: 1) We were using this weekend to clean the carpets when O wouldn't be there to ingest the chemicals and 2) My family spent two days in Zigzag, Oregon. Enough said.

We had fun despite going through about 9 boxes of tissues, 2 bottles of cough medicine, and 1 bag of marshmallows.

Great Book

An article that tells it like it is

I think this is a must-read...

http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=4205

Toddler Eating Habits

* While eating pasta shells with tomato sauce for lunch, you stuffed one in each ear. I have no idea why. I do know that the old adage about not forgetting to wash your ears was made for you.

* You REALLY like Sunchips in Garden Salsa flavor. In order to get you in the bath this afternoon (in order to clean the tomato sauce out of your ear) I let you eat the chips in the bath. You were delighted. You enjoyed dipping them in the bubbles. And letting them drop into water and fishing them back out. It was really gross.

* Before eating a grape, you like to squish it with your foot.

Odessa, 19 months old

Wow. Life with a toddler is complicated. So many things to do and people to be and never enough time to be or do it all.

Reading through last months post is so nice because I can clearly see all the things that have changed in the past 30 or so days. And when you realize how much has changed in such a short period of time, it is no wonder that I feel tired, and anxious, and irritable.

I think that you are entering the "pre potty-training" phase but it all really depends on what books you read. The latest research seems to recommend potty training later vs. earlier. It is that pendulum swinging back the other direction. With so many families requiring two incomes, and daycare centers and preschools requiring potty-trained babies, the push to train early was intense.

So my point is that you notify us every time that you have to go "poo-poo". It is so funny because I didn't know that you even knew that word until you begin saying it to me in context. Yesterday we bought you a potty chair. Then you opened the lid and proceeded to put both feet in the bowl to stand up on it. I don't think you get the idea just yet.

You watch cartoons almost every morning. I admit it.

You will also turn off the TV when you are done and walk away. It is as if you are saying, "mom, haven't you read the latest research which documents the negative aspects of too much TV watching?" My reply is: "Yes, darling, but have you read the latest research that documents if mamas don't get their morning cup of coffee they slip slowly into insanity?"

I have realized that the characters on Disney cartoons often ask their audience a lot of questions, like "Do you see the blue ball?" It is hilarious because you have begun to answer back by saying "No." Yesterday, Mickey Mouse asked "Are we smart enough to solve this problem?" in his high-pitched annoying voice and you quickly respond back with an adamant "No".

Pre-baby I was sure that I would never let my kids watch all the annoying tv that is on. Now that I have a baby, The Wiggles and Jo Jo's Circus have become my allies in Operation Keep Odessa Entertained.

Now I am worried that people will ready this and judge me as a bad mama. So, let me just say that I do spend a lot of time interacting and playing with the poodle and I only turn on the tv when I need to get something done (shower, vaccume, go the mall, whatever).

You are back into wanting mama and daddy (and whatever other adult is nearby) to read books to you. At night-time, your all time favorite lately is "Mama Mama" and "Who are you, Baby Kangaroo?" You also love all the Dr. Seaus books too.

When you just want to sleep, you will flip through all the books really fast while I attempt to speed read them to you and then throw them on the floor. Then you will say "na-na" or point to the light and say "hep (help)" so that we can lay down to nurse and fall asleep. What is really funny is that the bedtime book routine is for your enjoyment, not some task which must be accomplished before we can go to bed for the night. Those are tacked up to the refrigerator door.

5:30 a.m. seems to be your preferred wake up time. Could be a lot worse so I am not going to complain. Okay, just a little bit... We have nowhere that we need to be getting to at that hour. This is the time period in your life where you should sleep in -- you have many years to come of having to wake up before the sun to get to work or school or whatever.

Additionally, you sleep 8-10 hours in a row. I know a lot of babes that sleep 12 hours straight at night (or so their parents claim). Parents are able to put their babies to sleep and then have a couple of hours to themselves before needing to go to sleep -- I think that is how people with kids get anything done or resume their sex lives (so you can only blame yourself for not getting a sibling :) But because you aren't going to sleep for 12 hours, I feel like I need to go to sleep when you do in order to get 8 ish hours in a row. Hmm. I am sure that this will change with time or we will find another way to adapt.

While eating at at restaurants, we usually will put you in a booster chair in between daddy and I. A few weeks ago, we were at a restaraunt eating breakfast with some friends and their baby. After you got bored with eating and attempting to climb the wall, you proceeded to stuff packets of sugar down my sweater and into my bra. After you would get five or six in there, you would proceed to dig them all out. And then you would start this process over. It was really funny but also a little awkward.

Another huge change is that you recently started at playschool two days a week. I have mixed feelings about it. I really think that you have a fun time there and I am really happy to know that you are somewhere safe and fun while I go to work. When I start to feel down however, all these guilt feeling creep over me and I worry that it isn't your benefit. And the kicker is this, I will not ever know whether what I am doing is beneficial for you or not. I just have to make a decision and trust my instincts.

Time for me to go. I need to remove your breakfast from your high-chair tray before you let me know that are done eating. Very clearly. By throwing the food onto the floor.

I adore you. I hope that I am making all the right decisions for you, or at least most of them. Or at least the big ones.

Clean hair and conditioned teeth

Yesterday I was in the bathroom getting dressed. Odessa was "helping" to "organize" our bathroom drawers while brushing her teeth. She pulls out a bottle of hair conditioner and attempts to open the lid so that she can squirt it on her toothbrush. When that attempt proves futile, she looks up at me and says "Mama, hep (help)". "I am sorry baby, that is not toothpaste. That is conditioner, for your hair". She looks back at the bottle of hair conditioner, pretends to squirt it onto her toothbrush and proceeds to run the toothbrush through her hair.

Finger-painting gone terribly wrong

Mother Earth is a Tease

Last weekend we had one day that was very sunny and warm and beautiful. It makes me excited for the longer days and warmer weather ahead.

Blue Eyes and Broccoli Face

She must have gotten both attributes from Larry -- a love of broccoli and blue eyes. Either him or the mailman.

The web should be disabled when I am sick...

As I am reading back through my posts from the past few days, I must say that I really shouldn't combine codeine and internet-publishing. Too much like "drunken-dialing", ya know.

And I have made quite a few Ebay bids on baby clothes that looked super-cute through the opiate haze.

I also wrote an email to my friend that essentially said "Lets start exercising together! We should eat soy cheese pizza tomorrow! We should open an ant farm in Australia!"