first steps

baby steps. the image of a babe, tottering about. small steps are what comes to mind, no? but in actuality, baby steps are giant in proportion to babies. and my little one has surprised me yet again.
"are you ready for her to walk?" people have been asking.
"well sure," i reply carelessly, "she's already been crawling all over the place."
so i was picturing horizontal steps across the room, but Baby L had something else up her sleeve: VERTICAL steps!
as in, climbing onto tables and then standing UP on them!
as in, she can make it from the basement to the kitchen in a matter of moments (while mom tries to protect her from big brother's "help")!
as in, positioning forwards, backwards and sideways on a tippy kids chair where baby L's body occasionally becomes trapped by the armrests, thus toppling the chair... along with the baby.
baby steps.

snips and snails and puppy dog tails

although big kid C is no longer impressed by my "singing", baby L has moved into position of unsuspecting fan. between clapping and holding up her finger in the #1 position, i am pretty much on cloud nine. this was a joy of having children that i didn't see coming.

big kid C still brings joy in other ways. for instance, although i get impatient when there is a slow moving train right in the middle of my perfectly good road, he is straining in his seat to see how long it is, what it is carrying and whether it pulls a caboose (a rare occurrence i am surprised to note) . his excitement helps to temper the dread when i see the train crossing arm jerk leisurely down.

i also get a kick out of his special treasures. "can i have that for my collection?" he'll ask of toilet paper tubes and used pudding cups (yes, for the tubes and no way! for the pudding cups)
his current treasure chest is an old mary kay shipping box and it's current contents are as follows: one broken blue plastic camera, one American Legion business card (hello President Lilli!), one mini Tonka truck book, one spinning top, one baby hairbrush, one beaded coin purse, one aquarium harmonica and one silver tin which conceals his "footprints in the sand" keychain (from God), a snowman shaped rubber band bracelet, and a small silver chain.
in this box i see time passing and time standing still.

two sides, but how many coins?

you could call it a silver lining, but i prefer to look at it as "half empty". the joys of wisconsin weather that is.

take pumping milk for example. when it is frigid, i curse the arctic air as i pump milk in my car "at work". since i work out of my car, that is my office! as work places are required by law to have a place where nursing moms can pump milk, i offer a luxurious reclining front seat, radio with cd player, and even a cup holder. however climate control is often a bit rough as the car seems to cool off considerably after being turned off for an hour. brr. exposed breasts are cold breasts.

it stands to reason that with warm weather i will stop complaining, but unfortunately my memory is too good to claim that. back in july and september I was busy whining about trying to keep the pumped milk cold in the car all day long. loading (and unloading) my car daily with my workbag and laptop, my lunch, my water bottle, a separate cooler of milk for baby and toddler at daycare, diapers and wipes for daycare, breastpump and bottles, inhaler for toddler, and a baby in a carrier was just about all i could handle. add another cooler and ice pack and i would tip over. onto the ground. and it is very hard to get up holding all the aforementioned things.

baby olympics

imagine an Olympic diver. she has just moments before entering the water to twist, turn, contort, flex and extend. amazing. now picture that same Olympic diver at 11 months and i can tell you what she is doing: twisting, turning, contorting, flexing and extending! all this while her buns are covered in poo. baby L's new extreme sport is diaper wrestling while mom and dad attempt to clean crevices and fasten BOTH sides of the diaper to her wriggling, inverted body (sorry, no partial credit for one side of a diaper...falls right off you'll soon find).

i am very relieved to know that our baby monitor is pointed at the crib and not the changing table. i thought only turtles could bend their necks that far!? i glance guiltily over my shoulder as i try to pin her down hoping these memories leave no scar (on me!... i mean HER). occasionally i can distract her with something really good like a fragile, electronic device or a bottle with a choking sized cap... and curse the articles and books that led me to believe that babies actually want to have a clean diaper. those were obviously written by someone with a twisted, turning, contorting sense of humor.

why we weren't in madison... today

what to write about? the return of shark teeth to mom's nipple or yet another day of toddler sickness in 2011? why not both? kind of a "kick her while she's down" feature!
the author of my feeding book mentions she is surprised by the high rate that kids are ill: approximately 6-12 times per year. however, when i read that statistic, i felt pure envy. ONLY 6-12 times? how lovely, how manageable!
as we have already been to urgent care several times this year and are on day 5 of a high fever, i can only daydream. but sick kids aren't that surprising. these are the same darlings who attempt to eat rocks and table legs, and i find myself a little behind when it comes to sanitizing such items...
however, what to do with these ill children when both parents are working? and grandma is working? and grandpa is in las vegas? and no one (including school and day care) wants to snuggle up with the little germballs?
dad "working from home" is becoming more hilarious by the day. instead of rocking in a swing, baby L is reading all the books (with her teeth) and pulling up to stand (using the open toilet). it used to be that toddler C could be entertained by a favorite video, but for some reason he is not as easily pacified when he hears Diego's voice but sees an 11 month old slapping the television (i guess we do need a wall mounted flat screen afterall).
i have flexed my flexible job to the near breaking point with rearranged schedules and days off. how do women working full-time, inflexible jobs do it? i sure don't know. and in our 'freetime' we are still trying to pump milk!!
which brings us back (sort of) to baby land shark. she has now thankfully changed her nibbling technique from the clamp and pull (in order to detach mom's nipple, presumably) to the snapping turtle bite and hold. at least with the bite and hold i know that she is merely expressing recently learned lessons about the resistance movement and how to stand your ground, which she obviously picked up the day we did go to rally in madison.

A day in the life of Mr. C

So today Mr. C popped up at the break of dawn and created a beautiful line of matchbox cars along his train tracks. He also demanded mom stop singing poppy tunes and sing rock and roll, "you know" he confided, " with fast drums and guitars that go neer, na neer." I obliged (but still can't find a record label that wants to put it out...). He raced me half way around the block and tried to push Baby L's stroller back up the hill. He colored Loretta Lynn on a tractor (?). He did a wild dancing and singing "show" for mom and Baby L. He created an urban street scene on the window sills. He practiced pedaling his Diego big wheel in the basement (finally!! thought that kid was gonna fred flintstone around forever!). He shoveled snow and sprinkled salt in opposition to this tiring Wisconsin weather. He was Spiderman, Wolverine, and Spiderman/Wolverine.. a dashing super hero that clings to the side of cribs, spins a web and is ready to scratch you as you chase him in literal circles around the house while he dons a Buzz Lightyear pajama top, Spiderman shorts, and socks on his hands (web shooters, duh).
All this on his day off from school. Excuse me, did I say day off? I meant his day home SICK from school. Couldn't you tell? Those antibiotics sure do kick in fast (less than 18 hours!) Oh, and no nap either.

baby talk

if you want to drive a parent crazy, tell them you heard their baby say a new word that they haven't heard the baby say yet. it's maddening. not only that, but it makes a liar out of an otherwise honest mom. "oh yeah, she says that", I heard myself saying!?! poor Baby L was stuck listening to me repeat the same word over and over all night in smiling desperation. she didn't budge.