I’m gonna have to face it I’m addicted to blogs
I love reading all of my friends blogs - and I have such great faith in them that every single day I type in each of their blog addresses (and yes I do already have links to all of them on my own site) to see what they have written. I must also admit that I get a bit disappointed if they let a day, yes folks - just one day, go by without posting. Heaven forbid they actually have lives and let a whole week go by without writing anything. If this happens I actually get a little upset - and worried. Mind you I have been known to let a few weeks go by without posting and yet I still expect you, my loyal and faithful readers, to keep coming back. Thanks about that - the reading my blog thing I mean.
All of my friends blogs are a bit different - with Regan’s being what I’ll call the edgiest. Pam and Jeanne both talk about their kids - but lo and behold they also talk about themselves a bit too. My blog, well I hope you all like hearing just about the little miss because that seems to be the focus of my blog. I don’t think it started out like this - but somewhere along the way I seemed to have forgottten one of the whirlinggirls. We’ll call her whirling mama. It is not that I don’t have my own thoughts and opinions - I think it is just that when I do finally have the time to sit down and write I just write about my baby Bell so I can keep the relatives and friends up on what is happening.
If you are wondering if I do anything besides entertain my pretty little Annabel - the answer is NOPE! Just kidding. I have finally started reading again (because I dropped my classes - just did not have the time and etc) and on Saturday night (after I found a suitable crochet hook - I have no clue where all my crochet hooks have hidden themselves) I crocheted Annabel a poncho. I don’t have a picture of her in it yet - but I am really proud of myself. I, as per usual, came up with the pattern myself. It is green and double layered with some scalloped edging on the top layer. And yes this counts as about me because I got all of the enjoyment out of the crocheting.
But, that will have to be all - baby is upset about her bath being over and some diaper rash she has from wearing only disposables for two days (we’ve been lazy with laundry). Oh yeah, isn’t that a gorgeous roast I made - balsamic vinegar and garlic!
Filed under twirling my thoughts | Comment (0)our weekend outings
This weekend was a busy and, as you can see from our outfits, utterly gorgeous weather wise weekend. On Saturday we, along with most everybody from the Greater New Orleans Area, went on down to the Audubon Zoo (and while there they all asked for you). Annabel had a lot of fun playing at the playground and growling at the tigers and trying to climb into every water exhibit there. On Sunday we went to City Park with our friend Amanda (and you can thank her for all of the wonderful pictures on flickr) and had a lovely picnic in the park before and while playing at the playground and feeding the ducks ( well one duck and a bunch of pigeons).
I don’t know if I mentioned it, but Annabel is all about the running now - except she kinda isn’t so good at it. And now, while it used to be she would grip my hand for dear life, she has started waving me away in that “I can do it myself mama” way. This would be all well and good if she would just put her hands out to brace herself when she falls - - -but she doesn’t and so I don’t yet give her too much leeway when we are outside on the hard and gravely pavement.
Last week, after a storytime where she was PARTICULARLY busy I worried that she had stopped enjoying reading. (Then I reassured myself that she is just such an engaged baby that she just likes to explore her new surroundings when we are out and about.) I was then re-reassured by Baby Bell herself this past week when she decided to remember how much she liked books and has been (throughout the day) coming up to me and Mike with one of three books in her hand and saying, “read to me”. Her favorite favorite is the board book “Miss Spider’s ABC’s” because the last page is Miss Spider’s surprise Birthday Party and so Mike and I sing the happy birthday song to her - - - and she LOVES the happy birthday song (I’d sing it now except it is copy righted and I could get sued). Her other two favorites (for the moment) are “Dinosaur’s Binkit” and “Hand Hand Finger Thumb” (the second we got for a steal at the bookfair). I just love that she comes up to us with a book (or my red wallet) and hands us the book and then says “read to me” - and she says it very emphatically I might add.
No other quirks that I can think of. It is getting cold here so once again Mike and I are in a quandry about how to dress Miss Annabel for sleeping. We still don’t use a blanket (she squirms and wiggles too much in her sleep) but we can’t use a sleepsack or she would fall when she goes to stand up so right now we are just layering her up. This morning she felt cold - poor baby - so tonight we have layered her a bit more. There exists (for online ordering) a halo sleepsack for early walkers with little legs which I think we might get as it gets colder, I just need to figure out her size.
Oh, and since she was 23 pounds when we took her to the doctor last (the time mike kind of squished her fingers and then overreacted and I let him because goodness knows I do it more then him) we decided to turn her carseat around. I must admit it was not all for her enjoyment (cross fingers she likes riding facing forward - we haven’t tried it out yet and, fortunately or un, she was always able to keep herself amused when she faced backwards) it was also because now that winter clothes are being worn the seat feels a bit snugger.
I guess that is all for now.
chalk drawing
We have a new accomplishment! Annabel can draw with chalk. Now, I know this milestone is not listed in any of the regular baby and parenting books - but my special, “Parenting the Mary Poppins way - with help from Burt” has a whole chapter on the myriad milestones connected to drawing with chalk.
Onto a more serious note, yes we are now a ‘having fun with chalk’ kind of family. Mind you, we only bought the bucket of chalk yesterday and so Annabel has only had the chance to color a grand total of three times - but she enjoyed each of those times immensely. She especially enjoys putting the chalk back into the bucket. And when she is done she says “all done” and wants us to immediately clean up - but then she enjoys the cleaning up process so much that she then starts to take the chalk out piece by piece and then hand them back to me so I can put them back into the bucket. When she finally tires of this she starts trying to put the lid on and then when I help she wants the lid back off. So, a bucket of chalk and some driveway can make a whole hour fly by.
The funny thing though is that she seems to think she has to color only where she has already colored. This morning I found a fresh clean spot for us to color in that was a little smoother than the part of the driveway where she and Mike had been coloring. She sat down next to me, looked at what I was starting to color and made a line, looked at the very colorful area where she and daddy had colored last night, stood up, picked up her bucket and walked over to the other coloring spot. I guess she likes the inspiration. I did have us color in front of the house after we had colored in the back for a bit. Then, in the afternoon when we went back out to color she decided that the back area was boring and picked up her bucket, walked down the long and un-yet-chalked driveway to get to the same spot we had colored out front in the morning. Sometimes I just love Annabel and her funny baby quirks more than I had even just the moment before.
Filed under twirling my thoughts | Comment (0)Nobody Ever Told Me
I knew that we would have more laundry with a baby (not even counting the cloth diapers). I knew we would have more clutter and cleaning up to do with a baby. Babies bring messes and stained clothes with their arrival. What nobody ever told me - or even hinted at is how many more dirty dishes we would have. Now that Annabel is one we are on to sippy cups and no tip bowls and utensils for baby and mama plus the pots used to cook all her food and the cups she shares with me. And oh my goodness - at the end of the day if you look in our sink you would think we threw a party there are so many dishes there. I have no idea what baby girl and I do during the day to accumulate them and yet there they stand - DIRTY and just waiting to be washed as they pile higher and higher.
Filed under twirling my thoughts | Comment (0)Where Y’at Annabel?
Long Ago on Annabel’s Birthday in Storyland
Annabel is making great strides - and I do mean that literally. She is VERY sure that she is a GREAAAAT walker so she has started running. Poor thing, she does this little knee slide at the end because she becomes over eager to get to her destination. She is also finally getting a mouthful of teeth. Here is the rundown: First she got her bottom two teeth and next to come in was the left eye tooth. Once that little point started to break through she discovered the joys of grinding the point against the bottom teeth. (Mind you this required her to do this crooked pirate argh face thing so the side tooth would line up with the bottom middles teeth.) Now she is finally getting in her top middle left tooth and we can see the top middle right and the right eye tooth coming through and we think the right canine - we will miss her crooked little smile when she has a more centered teeth array to display.
What else is she up to? Well she still absolutely loves to go outside and so we do - often. We first say hi to the green car and then we walk over to the metal gate which she likes to touch but gives me the heebie jeebies b/c I think she is going to get tetnus (no idea how to spell that right now) from it - thank heavens for her shots. Next we go out front and pet the dead flower in our front yard before walking over to touch the neighbor’s red flower and his stone lions. After that maybe we get the mail or go down to say hi to the stop sign. We always find leaves to pick up and bring home for the cats to eat and throw up. If we are lucky we run into Miss Barbara from down the street and her little puppy Angel. (Have I mentioned that dogs are just the cats meow to my little Belly?) Annabel gets so excited to see a dog that she can hardly settle down to pet them. We then go back home and go inside - which often involves sad proclamations from my little explorer.
As per the doctor’s orders she is allowed to eat anything. Since she is a bit lacking in the teeth area - a point and a nub up top with two actuals down bottom don’t completely cut it - we do baby her still a bit. But, tonight Mike gave her plums and she LOVED them. She is also a HUGE fan of cheese - but aren’t most babies. And then there is bread, lovely bread and pizza crust which mama and daddy have shared with her a few times . . .and then had to pry mushy and doughy out of her mouth and she gummed the whole thing like, well like gum. Oh, we have also started on scrambled eggs and she quite enjoys them as well. it certainly is nice to start to get away from jarred mashed pureed baby food.
What else does miss belly do during the long fall day? Well, she likes to find mama’s books and page through them. She picks them up and carries them around then sits down and thumbs through them like a pro. She also talks while she is doing this. Another big favorite is mama’s wallet with the picture of daddy and belly on the cover. I make her give daddy and “the baby” kisses. She opens her mouth - and well let’s just say I get back a rather slobbery wallet.
That will have to be all for now - the washer is done cleaning (? - well hopefully) the diapers so off to throw them in the dryer and get some sleep.
Where do the hours go?
Filed under twirling my thoughts | Comment (0)Making Groceries
So I was out shopping the other day and look what I found! I just plopped her into my basket and called it a good shopping day.
Actually, Annabel became entranced with the baskets at Borders Bookstore. At first she just carried them around - and then she decided she needed to be inside of one. Luckily Mike or I had our trusty phone so I snapped a picture of her.
Miss cutie patootie is getting her every other day bath right now from daddy - a ritual I guess. Other than that we seem to have lost our rituals or schedules with the change of time - or maybe it was all the birthday and then Halloween madness. Annabel and I used to be fairly regular with our days - but all of a sudden it is anyone’s guess as to when naps will fall or even lunch . . .and we have ALWAYS been VERY scheduled for lunch. You see, she is tired earlier (time change) but is not getting up earlier in the morning everyday. This morning she was up at 6am (come to think of it I guess she HAS started waking up around 6 or 6:30 since the time change - but part of that I blame on the cats). She then comes to bed with me to nurse and before the timechange (when she woke up around 7:30 or 8am) that took maybe a half hour then we were off to play for a half hour then eat breakfast and she was ready for a 10 or 10:30 nap after breakfast. Now, she kind of falls asleep again while nursing but not really so she still needs a nap and takes it around 8:30 or 9am. If she falls asleep that early then the nap is short but throws off her other nap as well as the timing on lunch.
Ugh, oh well, I will figure it out in a week or two, that is what usually happens when we all of the sudden turn our lives upside down and lose track of our naps.
The only thing I really have to worry about is how we are going to convince the cats that 4:30am really is still sleeping time.
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