Bitty Romance

Get ready for this, peanuts. Little One has a boyfriend! They met in utero, which is like a really truly blind date, because of course they couldn't actually see each other. But they had their real first date just a few months later. He was long, dark, and handsome. She was outgoing and laughed at his jokes. They shared a lovely afternoon together. He was like, "girl, nice legs!" And She was all, "you flatterer! All riiight, you can hold my hand. Tee hee."
They really hit it off. They've been out a few times now. Here are some pics from a recent date. We overheard them flirting. They are quite the item. And the PDA, I mean really. Just look!


Little One: "O, you are so cute."O: "Little One, you are cute. I love your stunning belly button!"Little One: "And I love your luscious cheeks!"O: "Why thank you! I shall kiss your hand like a gallant Frenchman!" Little One: "Oh you charmer!"Little One: "All riiiight, you can hold my hand again. Tee hee."

Bibbity bobbity boo-hoo

Remember that part in Cinderella where the clock strikes 12 and suddenly her ballgown and white horses and carriage turn back into rags and mice and a pumpkin? Today that is me. My fairy godmother (AKA my mom) disappeared today, and sadly prince charming is not due back at the castle for awhile yet. *sigh*. Having my mom here totally was like being a princess at a ball....a catered ball, with good conversations and free child care. So before I get back to washing diapers and cleaning floors, I would rather focus on the past! Here are some pics of my charmed life while Little One's Gramma was here and breakfast magically made itself every morning. My little glass slipper and I miss her already!

Mount Vernon


Playing at the Park



St. Patricks Day Parade



Botanical Gardens


Sightseeing




Fun in the Snow


Gramma Snuggles!

Puppy Love

5 Months

Growing up is hard. Little One has always been good for a challenge, but this was the month of cowgirlin' up. Here are some of the ways Little One is Tough Enough for 5 whole months old:

Tough Enough for Solitary Confinement
Little One still sometimes gives us a few bars of the "not-really-nice-to-leave-me-in-here-by-myself" song at bedtime. But I get the feeling it's more obligatory than heartfelt now. Waking up alone isn't scary anymore either, and She now hosts a social hour with Toes and Blanket in the mornings. She will spend up to an hour just talking and giggling and playing away, until either She realizes She's hungry or I get Her up.
Naps are coming right along too. Part of the new "I can totally take you crib!" attitude is the addition of Blankie. Blankie, like Lassie, is actually a series of several little blankets, with silky edging that Little One likes to bear hug, roll on Her side, and spoon when She sleeps. She does not realize this, but Blankie has a mutinous plot to overthrow Pacifiers, and it's working.

Strong Enough to Move It
Forget about rolling. Little One's current choice in ambulatory techniques is the wiggle-scoot. Her bootie (accompanied by the incredibly powerful leg-chubs) is now capable of creating directional motion. In fact I have had to flip around Her changing table so that She is boxed in, after She quite nearly wiggled Herself right off the edge. She can quite nearly wiggle Herself out of a lot now. The only drawback to this exciting form of locomotion is that it can occur only in one direction, feet-wards.
She is also strong enough now that I get to put to work one of the most useful gifts nature ever gave women, despite the fact that all of our thank-you cards to nature said "aw...you shouldn't have": hips. Those suckers are handy places to put small people while you get things done.

Smart Enough to Make Things Happen.
Toys are not just for gumming on! She has noticed that they can be used for other things. The rattle, for instance, can be rattled. On purpose. The toy piano can make music, at Her will. Hanging objects move when She smacks them and stop when She grabs them. Objects hugged get closer and objects thrown disappear. These clues have led to the thrilling discovery that Little One can decide to do Things, that the World can be manipulated, and that Her actions can cause effects. This discovery has been very fun to watch.

Bold Enough to enjoy Herself
Little One is still as smiley as it gets. She's pretty much just having a grand ole time with life. But certain things make her especially happy, particularly the dog, E. They spend a lot of time looking at each other, getting excited, and wiggling around. And trying to drool on each other. She's also very into other children and babies; very much the socialite, having lots to say to other Little Ones we see when we're out. She flirts with everyone though, really.
She's also bold enough to love being naked and the changing table, maybe for this reason, remains Her "happy place". Bath time, perhaps also for the nudity inherently involved, has made a comeback in Little One's good graces. Other fun things to do include taking walks, chomping on Her fingers, squealing and babbling with fingers in Her mouth, playing peek-a-boo, and rolling side to side while holding onto Her feet. She is not too tough to admit that snuggling remains the top pastime of choice. And She is not yet tough enough for tummy time to be un-miserable, though the Howl alert is now on about a 30 second delay. So that's progress, right?

Brave Enough to Take on the World
The biggest change in Little One over the last month is Her ability to face new things. It is now OK for people other than me or J to hold Her. Loud noises are still scary, but She has learned to look to Her trusted adults when this happens, and (usually) if She gets a reassuring smile the pouty bottom lip gets re-cast as a grin instead of becoming a cry. New sights and sounds have become interesting enough to outweigh their scariness, and Little One is very into soaking up the world around Her. In fact the last few weeks have been pretty jam-packed with outings to all sorts of overstimulating places (topped off by front row seats at a parade) and Little One has turned out to be amazingly portable and amiable on these adventures. She has (dare I say it?!) become a very "easy" baby.

Overall I'd say the great advancement of the last month was this ebbing of Little One's sensitivities and the new fearless explorer attitude that has Her trying new things and having fun everywhere we go. It makes me very excited to see what new challenges will be met in the next month, and it's also great that She makes such a good partner in crime for all sorts of activities now that She is tough enough to take the Big Scary World in stride. And look, we all know that it is pretty big and scary. So I'm super proud of Little One for greeting Her 5 month birthday by looking the World in the eye, standing (well, sitting) tall and saying, "Bring it!"

Happy Birthday, Little One! I can't wait to see what the next month brings.

Happy Birthdzzzzzzzz.....

Today is Little One's 5 month birthday! LOTS of big things have happened. But I am toooo tired to tell you about it right now, because we spent the whole day in Alexandria at the St. Patrick's Day parade and the waterfront and the museums and our friend's house and the shops and well you get the idea. We brought month five in with a bang. Tomorrow I will do an official monthiversary post, but for now, I'm going to follow the lead of the wise Little One and pull my blankie over my head, snuggle into bed, and crash out. Let this be proof, though, Little One, that I didn't forget. :)

Lost

Today the search for Marquis was called off. His family has received information which has led them to believe and accept that he has passed away. Which is very, very sad.
I knew Marquis in high school. We didn't keep in touch over the years, but I remember him as a good friend and a great guy, and somebody that everyone looked up to. Even as a teenager he was someone who inspired others and was the kind of example I wish more high school boys would follow.
Tragedy is always taken personally, because even if it's in a small way, the lives of those we have met and known touch our own and are part of us. It's shocking to have something so frightening and horrible hit so close, and so I am shocked, and frightened, and horrified.
It also impacts us when these things happen, as they so often do, to people we have known who were such an asset to the world. It seems so unjust. Marquis was certainly such a person in my memory, and it insults my sense of fairness that such a positive life with so much potential would be cut so short.
Most of all though, at least for me, this kind of news is hard because it is impossible not to empathize with those who are left to grieve the most. Because if I am shocked, and horrified, and sad, then I can't bear to imagine what must be happening in the hearts of his parents, wife, and daughter right now. And because I think none of us can help but imagine in some small way....what if it was me? Or mine? The answer to that is always bone chilling.
Tonight I'm saying many prayers for Coops family. Especially for his wife and his little girl, who is only three. I'm still saying them for Marquis, too. I think we take tragedy personally because it helps us to be there for those who need supporting.
But it also helps us see the precious in our own lives, and give those things the value they merit more clearly. Tonight I am giving Little One an extra cuddle before bed. And I'm spending extra time on my knees being thankful that even though J is gone right now, he's coming back. Taking extra time to realize how huge and how much of a blessing that is. And I'm going to think about you, too, and how fortunate I am to have you.
And I'm going to be thankful that, in a small way, for a time, I had an honor that too many people will now miss out on. Which was getting to know Coop.

Classified

Shh. I caught a spy. Look how guilty She looks. I brought Her in for tickle-torture and She confessed that She's been sharing all my secrets with Grandma. Who I thought was working for me! Double agent. I got this suspicious-looking duck character, too. They were hiding in the Spy Museum, but they are now in custody, behind bars, in a bugged room.
This message will self-destruct in 5 seconds. Kidding! Kidding. Just delete it. Kidding! Just don't tell anyone. Well, it's not a secret, actually, but...look around furtively and whisper a little anyways. Just, you know, for fun. You can sing your own theme song, too, if you want. Dun dun dun, dun duh nuh! Duh nuh-nuuuh!

Prayers for Coop

A friend from high school, Marquis Cooper, has gone missing at sea after a fishing trip. If you are the praying kind, or even if you're not, please consider saying some for him. He has a wife and a little girl, and his family are all hoping very much that he will be found.
They have also set up a fund for his search. If you feel able to contribute, you can get more information at www. halmeyer. com, or you can just go to any wells fargo bank and donate to the fund that is in his name.
Sometimes I am reminded of how fast lives can change. It makes me take a minute to be extra grateful for all I have, and it makes me ache for those whose worlds have been turned upside-down. It's a good time for all kinds of prayers, I think.

Don't tell McGruff

The dogs are addicted to the powdery white stuff. Yup, they are snow junkies. I wish I could describe the level of euphoria I've witnessed out in the field the last few days, but words can not do justice to the overflow of exuberance and delight. And neither can pictures. I wish wish wish my camera hadn't died before I was able to capture X lay down on his side and make side-wards running motions into the snow, because it looked for all the world like a canine snow angel. Or E rolling in the snow like a soccer ball. Too bad Little One wasn't there to get inspired by the rolling, but She was staying cozy inside with grandma. For the rest of us, though, the last two days were a frenzy of racing, jumping, digging, wresting and wiggling in the snow. Not to mention the thrill of chasing snowballs. I mean, where do they go?! Today the doggies kept the frolicking to a minimum, though, because they noticed that the snow is beginning to melt. Accordingly, they spent most of our outing gobbling it up like tazmanian devils, knowing that it might not be there much longer for their gluttonous indulgence. Poor things, it will be a sad day when it's gone. Just as well, though. I don't want anyone to OD.

Might as well be raining meat

J and I like saving dollars. We also don't want our sweet X and E to get teased for being the fat kid at the dog park. So one of the best tricks we've ever pulled off is convincing them that ice cubes are a delicious gourmet delicacy. These two will do all kinds of rolling-overs and shaking paws and prancing around to get a coveted hunk of frozen water. Which is why, when they woke up this morning and saw this:

They were pretty sure they had expired at some point in the night and gone to doggie heaven. E took a flying leap into the yard, belly-flopped on the ground with her jaw open and very efficiently, if maniacally, scooped up mouthfuls of snow in a little arc around her head. Then they raced and rolled around with complete abandon, reminding me of an old cartoon of this miserly duck that would go swimming in piles of money.
It's the most snow we've had since moving here 3 years ago, and my AZ mom is almost as excited as the dogs. There are actually several inches more since I took the photos. You can barely tell, but the white on the ducks there is actually little piles of snow that built up while they swam across the pond. It is coming down that fast! At the moment, Little One and Grandma and I are staying cozy. But what kind of an evil monster would I be if I kept X and E in the house when there are great drifts of milkbone-dust out there piling up?! In fact there are four very sad, hopeful eyes staring me down as I type. Better go get some boots on.

Snow Angel