April 12, 2010 - Loving the Grassy Feel

I guess after a short lifetime spent indoors hiding from a frigid Nebraska winter, this shouldn't surprise me, but Georgia is just fascinated with the feel of grass. Today we headed back out to my beloved garden for some more tidying. I laid a blanket on the shady grass for Georgia to lay on, but it seems the only blanket she wanted was a grassy one. She kept moving her feet or the blanket or both until her feet were sitting in the grass, and then she just kept wiggling her footsies to get a good feel of the blades below.

And there in her floppy, flowered sun hat, we just watched the sky to see just how blue it could blush.

We also tried a new food today - bananas. Exact opposite reaction of what I expected - she hated them. Spit them out just as quickly as that nasty rice cereal. Do I have a picky eater on my hands?

Read more...

April 11, 2010 - Grass Beneath Her Feet

When the air turns warm, when the frost puts on its last disappearing act, when little green heads start to peek out from their hibernation dens, my heart stirs. In my garden, I find myself. There surrounded by friends whose names my husband can never remember, like vinca major and astilbe and viburnum, I breathe a little deeper and move a little lighter. Funny, one of the things Georgia already finds the most interesting is the plant sitting on the counter in our home. She never misses a chance to touch it. Maybe she has a little of me in here there.

Today, I immersed her in plants. I've missed my sleepy little wonders, and it was time to help them awaken and clean up their homes.

Georgia was there to watch with her steady gaze as I straightened and pulled and cut. She even tried to help me with a dried branch.

And she reached her hand down to caress the grass like it was a friend she was trying to remember. OK, and then she yanked a handful of it out, but for a moment I swear she was loving on those leaves.

Isn't the lack of baby wrists just divine? Just how the baby chubbiness tumbles down the arm and then the hand begins, and somewhere in there and underneath it all the wrist temporarily gets lost. I love my daughter's baby wrists, or non-wrists. But I digress.

So in a cushion of grass, mommy and daughter just sat for a while and watched the clouds lumber by and listened to the sounds of spring awaken around our neighborhood, and I think we both were breathing a little deeper today.

Read more...

April 10, 2010 - My Nappers

Naptimes around our house tend to be where ever Georgia falls asleep, typically a lap or the couch. I know this practice will see an end soon as Georgia starts to discover the world is mobile, and so is her little body. She start to prop her shoulders a little bit higher above her hands and pull those adorable knees and feet up under her body, and all the sudden our nap rountines will move to the walled confines of her crib.

But for a little while longer I will relish having her close by as she dreams, her cherubic face and soft breaths just within my sight. Today as Georgia slept, my husband followed her lead and took a nap where ever he fell asleep. It was right on the floor next to our little one.

My two favorites, together even in their dreams.

Read more...

April 9, 2010 - Homemade with Heart

So the rice cereal was not a big hit in this house. It flopped harder than a million dollar budget movie that no one goes to see. So next production in our home (with a $2.00 budget) - apples!

Now there are theories out there that say don't do fruit before veggies because your baby will never like veggies. It seems like there's always a ton of "theories" for everything these days, doesn't it? We spend more time coming up with theories than living life. Well, we're tossing those empty, pesky theories aside and we're going with fruit.

And this mom's doing it homemade-style. I found a great website with recipes and instructions for homemade baby food. I know some of it just takes a little common sense and enough familiarity in the kitchen to know what a pot is, but this mama wanted a little guidance. It also has a section on what freezes well and what's a flop, and since I plan on making big batches of food Georgia likes and freezing it in cubes, I'm finding that section delicious.

Here's the website:Wholesome baby food.

And here's my first foray into the homemade baby food world:

So after the research, the preparation, the love - the blood, sweat and tears (ok, not really) - did my little monkey like her breast milk-infused homemade applesauce?

Ok, we're still trying to figure that one out, but she did eat a couple of teaspoons worth. That's good, right? Next stop, bananas, on this fast moving life express.

Read more...

April 8, 2010 - Teeth Relief

Oh my daughter, watching your pain take you to a world of miserable just steals my heart and bashes it up against a jagged rock. That fussy cry that almost no amount of kisses can soothe. The pain-induced whine even you don't truly understand, while I grasp for the answer to make it go away and return a smile to your face. Oh my little love, how I wish I could lift your burden that seems to encompass your world and carry it as my own. I ache to soothe your pain.

But then a little smile, eyes thrown to the side as if making sure I caught this brief bought of happiness. With Georgia's bottom two teeth coming in, her usual unstoppable smile isn't quite as fluid these days. It has found its kryptonite. But she bounces from one mood to the next - happiness to tears, smile to pain - like life is full of cloud-like trampolines. She's not a fan of store-bought teethers to quell the throbbing of her gums but is more than satisfied with her thumb or the softness of a blanket.

And when mommy's heart is breaking for you, anything is forgiven and forgotten almost in the same breathe they happen. Like when you grab ahold of mommy's necklace as she gets ready for work and pull until it snaps, letting it fall into your lap, the prized toy of persistence.

Read more...

April 7, 2010 - No Shame!

There are times in life when things astonish me, moments that make me lose all thoughts, instances where my gaping mouth is a signal of my disbelief, times when I can only shake my head back and forth as if this will somehow rattle some understanding into my head. Today was one of those times and it all started with a fairly innocent-looking letter in the mail. You know the kind. You see it laying quietly in the stack of magazines, store advertisements and bills, and you think it's just some routine correspondence - an appointment reminder or a receipt or the like. And then a quick flip of the letter opener and you feel the hit in your gut. Mine is a $230 punch, with the promise of more to come.

This is how I found out my insurance company will not pay for any more of Georgia's immunizations or well baby check ups. These are considered "routine" visits, and she has already hit her max for the year in April. Oh yeah, that got my chin dropping and my head rockin'.

I will probably never understand how this makes sense. That at this point the insurance company will not pay for a measles vaccination, but they'd pay the much heftier bill if my daughter caught the measles because I didn't get her the vaccination. Or Whooping Cough or Rubella or any of those dreaded things we stick needles in her legs to protect against. Of course, she will continue to get all of her vaccinations because that's what we do as parents - protect no matter what the cost.

That I can understand, but the logic of insurance companies I believe will always escape my grasp.

Read more...

April 6, 2010 - A Mommy Miss

My little lovely just won't slow down! She refuses to keep the term "little" associated with her. She's trying to shed it as quickly as we're all shedding our winter coats around Nebraska, packing them up and putting them in a closet with the hopes of forgetting they exist. Look, she's already standing tall (with a little help from the couch).

Her latest brush with growing up today equals a big miss on mommy's part. I'll marinate in my "bad mommy" guilt for a while but will hopefully not reach the point of grilling myself, over and over again.

Today I found out Georgia has cut her first tooth. Not the 'oh I see her gum bulging with the anticipation of delivering a perfectly white tooth' kind. No, it's the 'put your finger in her mouth and you'll get bit by the little spike' kind of tooth. It's already through the gum, and I never even noticed. It would be a little salve for my wounds if it had been my husband or maybe a relative who had noticed, but no, it was Miss Carol at Georgia's daycare. See, "bad mommy" guilt.

My little lovely has been a little out of sorts the past few days, but I just blamed it on the fact I gave her my cold (more guilt). Leave it to my little Georgia to let all that tooth pain add up to barely a whimper in her life. That "little" is turning to "big" in such a rush through life.

Read more...