Mommy is Soooo Clever

April 22, 2011April 22, 20111 Comment

When Baylie was a few months old, I received the Beaba Babycook gadget as a Christmas gift. If you have a baby, a grand baby or need an amazing shower gift for someone, this is it! I love this machine and have made countless meals for Ms.B and even a few delicious sides for Peter and I.

Obviously at almost 2 years old, I don’t make as many things for Baylor in my favorite machine as often anymore. But I do steam carrots and I make a fruit mix for her yogurt. I always blend at least 3 fruits with a veggie. She chows it down daily not knowing that she’s actually getting her veggies with her delicious fruit.

My favorite combo is an apple, spinach, strawberries and blueberries. But this week, I was out of spinach and not wanting to run to the store for just spinach, I tried to get clever. I had zucchini and brocoli. The zucchini was a no brainer – not a lot of flavor and would mix in with no detection. But the brocoli was a long shot. I was feeling gutsy so I went for it. When I sampled the final product, I did taste an overwhelming amount of strawberry, but just a hint of brocoli. Not a delicious combo. But I wanted to get the food critics opinion so I served up a bowl of yogurt to Bay and waited for the response. Rightly so, she turned her nose up after the first bite.

Not willing to give up on my veggie filled mission nor an entire tupperware full of steamed and blended fruit, I got clever. I mixed one of Bay’s favorite applesauce cups in with the fruit. And in a stroke of genius, I used the now empty cup to serve the new mixture. As soon as Bay saw the cup, she dug in. After her first bite, she gave me a raised eyebrow…and then gulped it down!

Mommy is soooo clever.

Where Time Meets Creativity

April 14, 20112 Comments

When creative energy meets a quite space of time, it produces great blog posts, chapters in a book I hope to complete some day and many things checked off of my work to do list.

Getting these two things in the same place at the same time is not only tricky, it’s damn near impossible it seems these days. The result? Painstakingly painful posts requiring much more work than what the result would lead one to believe. No work done on a book other than dreams of what I will wear to the book signing and raised anxiety levels over the fact that my list is growing rather than shrinking.

My new goals? Sleep less, push to make the most of nap time and find an additional hour a day where I encourage the kiddo to play quietly while I get a few things done. Prioritize my to do list for life, for work and for myself and stick to it and not freak out when it doesn’t all get done some days (ha. I laughed when I wrote that one. But writing is the first step, yes?). Carve out more structured play time/learning time with Bay and not feel like a horrible mother when her big activities for the day are a trip to the grocery and vacuuming. And to take a deep breath.

iiiiiinnnnnnn aaaaaaannnnnndddddd oooooouuuutttttt

Rainy Day Adventures

April 11, 20111 Comment

This past Saturday we had something we don’t see very often – rain! And the excitement of what will probably be one of the last cold, rainy days for many months gave way to some creative energy.

I heard much commotion coming from Baylie’s room while I was getting dressed. And when I went to investigate, I found this:

Peter and I both have great memories of fort building as kids. Inside, outside, with sheets, beach towels, quilts, whatever was handy. It seems that he hasn’t lost his touch. We spent a good hour playing, eating, reading and crawling in and out of the improvised shelter. Bay then spent another hour doing the same with Bear T. Dog. There were many tears when we had to deconstruct the new play area for nap time, so we left one sheet over her crib. It’s still there and I’m not sure we’re ever going to get it back.

A view from the inside:

Lack of Sleep is Funny Stuff

April 7, 20111 Comment

Peter and I have always each been chatty sleepers (apparently what is true in wakefulness is also true in sleep). We both tend to talk in our sleep and I have a habit of walking. It seems to get worse for both of us the less we sleep and or the more we have going on in our lives.

As a kid, I repeatedly scared my mom by walking into her bedroom at night chasing foul balls. Playing second base obviously extended beyond the field and into my dreams. I would be chasing a grounder, running the bases or headed back to the dugout. I usually woke up at some point and stumbled, confused, back to bed. Later in life, I have dreams where I need to be somewhere so I go to the closet and get different clothes to put on. This was particularly bad in DC, I would wake up with piles of shirts next to the bed. The worst part is I tend to wake up somewhere in the middle of finding the perfect outfit and suddenly become paranoid that Peter is going to see me in the closet and I’m not going to be able to explain what I’m doing there.

Since having Baylie, my walking has more to do with her whereabouts. Peter just informed me that while he was working on the couch the other night, I came out of the bedroom convinced he had forgotten to put Baylor to sleep and that she was still awake somewhere in the house. A few nights before that, I walked out to the couch, woke up a little, was confused at what I was doing there and made up something along the lines of “I forgot to tell you good night”. Something about getting caught in the act of sleep walking is apparently very embarrassing for me.

In my daily thought process of “how can I get more done in a day?!” it hit me – I need to sleep clean. If I could just pick up a mop or the vacuum on my way to the closet or where ever else I travel in my dream state, I’d have a much more productive sleep schedule…if I could fold the laundry instead of piling it up next to the bed, I’d be in business.

What’s in Baylie’s Bag – 5th Edition

April 6, 2011Leave a comment

This week’s bag of choice was Baylie’s new Easter basket / bucket that was a gift from my friend Chrissy. She spoiled Ms.B this last weekend with a bunny that was so incredibly soft, a blankie equally as soft, bunny ears and an Easter basket. Bay was in love with the goodies and also her new friend.

Contents:

Kat’s bathing suit

A silver play cup

The parts to Mr. Potato Head, but no Mr.Potato Head

1 Slice of play bread

Toothpaste

Books: “Time to Sleep Mr.Sheep!” and “Where is Baby’s Bellybutton?”

Barbie – who was formally undressed, but I felt since this isn’t an X-rated blog to clothe her

A wrist rattle made for a baby – Bay thinks it’s a bracelet

Also note the blur of color behind the table – this is Bay closing the blinds. You see now why the neighbor thought she was two kids instead of one.

What’s in Baylor’s Bag?

April 2, 2011Leave a comment

This week’s bag of choice was a Nordstrom bag – momma has taught her girl well. In addition to the contents listed below, my car keys and my flip flops were included. However they were removed prior to the picture being taken because I was so relieved to have found them.

This week’s bag includes:

Let’s Count! Book

Her knit hat Grandma made

Bunny ears

Pegs from the peg play game

UofA Mardi Gras beads

Rubber ducky

A ball

Her Elmo lunchbox

Now that I think about it, I should have opened the lunch box. It concerns me a little as to what might be in there…

Invasion of the Stuffed Animals

March 14, 20111 Comment

I knew this was coming. I just didn’t know it was going to be so soon and soooo dramatic.

Since giving up her pacifiers, Baylie has become increasingly obsessed with her stuffed animals. Particularly any recent acquisitions. The obsession has gotten so severe, she can’t sleep without them and needs them for at least 20 minutes after waking up. I’m sure here dentist and orthodontist will agree that these fluffy friends are much better for her teeth than a pacifier, but I think the pacifier may be better for Mommy’s sanity.

Our new bed time ritual involves getting Kat, Beanie Butt Bear, Little Bear AND blankie out of the crib. Bay attempts to carry all four of these items plus a cup of milk to the couch to snuggle before being shuttled off to bed. After prayers, we put the pillow down, then her, then blankie over top and then hand each animal to her individually while she decides their placement next to her. Last, the “aquarium” at the opposite side of the crib is turned on.

On top of all of this, Bay’s not been sleeping well – she was up we think 6 times last night. I say “think” because I’ve trained myself to go into her room, offer whatever comfort she needs and then get back to bed without having to fully wake up – it’s a skill – so I can’t be totally sure how many times I went in and repeated the same ritual. A normal suggestion would be to remove several of the thousand security items in order to allow her to sleep without rolling over on on them repeatedly, but I’m thinking that’s not an option. I’m praying that the sleeplessness is seasonal or molars coming in or allergies or something that isn’t going to last until she’s 12 because the men with the big butterfly nets will have come to get me long before she reaches puberty.

When Baylie wakes up, the reverse of the ritual is preformed. I intervened after watching her get increasingly upset when Daddy was not “doing it right”. First, Bay picks up Kat. Then she hands me her blanket – which I am to put over my shoulder. Then both bears. Then I pick her and Kat up, hand her both the bears and then attempt to carry her out of her room while she clutches all her animals while laying her head on her blanket on my shoulder. To say this process is annoying is an understatement.

But at least this way she’ll have pretty teeth, right??

The Power of Suggestion

February 22, 2011Leave a comment

As Baylie’s language skills grow, I’ve discovered a very humorous phenomenon.

We have several classes we attend each week that are great chances to not only teach interaction with other kids, but verbal skills and manners. So I’m often heard saying to Baylor “What is your name?” and “Can you please say hello to Ms.Maria?” or “Say ‘bye bye’!”, etc. The thing I find hilarious is if I don’t preface each phrase with Baylie’s name, the person I am trying to get her to talk to will usually be the one to respond, not Bay. I kind of expect it from kids because they are used to someone giving them the same prompts – but when I say “Say ‘hello'” to Baylie and an adult responds “hello!” it cracks me up! If I just randomly asked someone to say hello or tell me their name, there’s no way they would respond. But put a cute blonde toddler in front of them and they’ll say anything.

I should start saying “give them $5” or “what is your credit card number?” and see what kind of response I get. My luck the plan will backfire and Bay will dive into my purse and start rifling through my wallet for goodies to hand out…

Are They Twins?

February 15, 20113 Comments

Something baffling and hilarious happened the other night. It was a rare night where Peter was home from work earlier than 10 minutes before B goes to bed. So we were sitting on our front patio, enjoying the lovely 72 degrees and a glass of wine.

A neighbor who I recognize, but haven’t met (and probably won’t based on what happened next) walked by as she normally does in the evenings. Bay was being Bay and running around climbing into the chair, back out and then up onto the bench Peter and I were sitting on and then back. As our neighbor walked by we said hello, she responded and then smiled nicely and said “Are they twins?”

Perplexed, but trying not to be jerks, Peter and I smiled as we were clearly stumped. Were who twins? Us? The bench and the chair? Our dogs? About 5 seconds later, we realized she couldn’t quite see over the small wall that surrounds the patio and had thought our freakishly fast-moving 20 month old was 2 kids instead of one. So we explained that no, she’s just fast. The neighbor laughed and headed on her way.

I’d like to think she kept moving out of embarrassment and not out of pity for having a Tasmanian devil for a daughter.

And So It Begins…

February 11, 20111 Comment

I love Barbie. I’ve played with them since I could hold the tiny little Barbie sized brush in my hand. I’ve held many a Barbie wedding with my favorite Barbie in a dress I hand-made. I started collecting them when I was ten years old – my dad gave me The Empress Bride Barbie designed by Bob Mackie. It’s still one of my favorites. My collection lives at my mom’s house in a retrofitted 7 foot tall cabinet and there are 100+ dolls lovingly displayed – which are the envy of my niece and young cousin since they can’t actually touch them.

Baylie has two vintage inspired prints in her room and I’ve been teaching her to say “Barbie” since the day she was born. All the while worrying that she might – gasp – not love them as much as I do.

This week, I got my answer. While picking her up from Noni’s, I showed her mommy’s Barbies and she loved it. I opened the case and realized there are a few dolls I’ve never opened because they don’t have stands to keep them upright. In the mix I found one that Peter’s mom had given me – I can’t remember the occasion, but I’m sure it’s from her because it’s a Peter Rabbit theme. I pulled it out and asked Baylie if she would like it – she happily said yes, took the box and proceeded out the front door to the car so we could go home and open it. I couldn’t be happier.

Bay spent the rest of the afternoon helping Barbie drink her tea and brushing her hair. I just can’t wait to break out my amazing doll house and all the accessories. Mostly because I want B to have all the fun I used to have playing for hours…and a little because I want to play with them too.

The Barbie print over her changing table