“OK Cordy, what comes after thirteen?”
“Fourteen!”
“And what comes after fourteen?”
“Fifteen!”
“Good! Now Cordy, what comes after fifteen?”
“Sixteen!”
“And what comes after sixteen?”
“A bunch of bigger numbers!”
Feb 5, 2008
There’s No Such Thing As Equal With Siblings
By ·
I was an only child, so I never had to deal with some of the issues siblings have to deal with. For example, I was the one in all the pictures. I never had to worry about having my firsts remembered because I was the only baby.
Some friends warned me that second children get shorted when it comes to stuff like photographs and baby books. OK, so Mira’s baby book is still sitting on the shelf, with only about a page worth of stuff filled it, but at least I bought one, right? I can still go back and fill it in, even if I have to make up some of the dates.
But on the topic of photographs, I figured I was winning. I’ve become more camera happy as time has gone on, and looking through my records, I think I have more pictures of Mira as a baby then I ever did of Cordy at this age. So while everything isn’t equal, I’ve compensated where I can.
And then my mom asked me this weekend, “When are you going to get some studio photos of Mira? I’d like some nice pictures to frame and put in my wallet.”
Oh yeah. Forgot about those.
Cordy had a lot of studio time in her first year. Thanks to all of the coupons for free sitting fees and free photos from the local portrait studios (LOTS of free coupons), we took her for pictures nearly every month. I was young, I was foolish with money, and I wanted to preserve every tiny change as she grew. By the time she was nearing 12 months old, she was a pro at posing for pictures.
But Mira? Well, there was the hospital photo…and I took her to Target once at three months old for some photos that didn’t turn out all that good because she cried a lot…but that’s it.
So on Sunday afternoon I trudged out with Mira to make sure the grandparents, great-grandparents, and all of the other relatives who have been hinting that they want new pictures would be happy with new photos to display on their mantle. Honestly, how can you say no to family members who simply want to show off pictures of your adorable children to all of their friends?
The results weren’t bad:
The reason she’s smiling for the camera in these pictures was due to the herculean efforts of her mother as I danced around, made faces and goofy sounds, and provided enough entertainment to cause other people walking by stop and stare into the room to figure out what all the commotion was.
You may be asking: But where is that serious baby with the icy stare we all know? No worries, folks. She gave the photographer (and me) the evil eye plenty of times.
So. not. amused.
Feb 1, 2008
Haiku Friday: Motivation
By ·
Crawling: it turns out
all Mira needed was the
right motivation.
all Mira needed was the
right motivation.
I’m glad the video camera was right next to my chair to capture that. It was more of a flopping fish/army crawl, but it was forward movement. She’s only eight months old – I’m not expecting her to pop up and do a proper crawl yet.
Until Tuesday we had gone about it all wrong during tummy time. We held out toys like a carrot on a stick, urging her to push forward and grab for the toy. She had no interest.
But food? Food is worth crawling for, especially when it’s your big sister’s PB&J and goldfish.
She gave a repeat performance yesterday, although I was upstairs switching the laundry at the time and came down to find Mira with two fistfuls of half-eaten sandwich in her hands.
I suppose it’s good to know what motivates your kids, right?
To play along for Haiku Friday, follow these steps:
1. Write your own haiku on your blog. You can do one or many, all following a theme or just random. What’s a haiku, you ask? Click here.
2. Sign the Mister Linky below or at Jennifer’s blog with your name and the link to your haiku post (the specific post URL, not your generic blog URL). If you need help with this, contact Jennifer or myself.
3. Pick up a Haiku Friday button to display on the post or in your sidebar by clicking the button above.
Jan 30, 2008
You Learn Something New Everyday
By ·
Where have I been? While I’d like to say I spent a long weekend frolicking on a beach or wrapped up in heavy blankets by the fireplace sipping hot chocolate and reading magazines, the truth is less glamorous. I’ve been devoting a lot of my time to studying pharmacology, postpartum assessment, and oh my god someone actually gave me the go-ahead to perform subcutaneous injections! On people, even! What were they thinking?
Oh, and if anyone ever tells you nursing school is a breeze, I give you full permission to slap them across the face and call them a no good, lying-liarly-fibbity-fib. I didn’t work half this hard to get my bachelors degree. (OK, it was in history, not exactly engineering, I know.) And I don’t remember grad school being this hard, either. I think I even had less to read in grad school.
So naturally I’m being torn apart by the conflicting pulls of full-time wife and mommy, mostly-full-time blogger, and full-time student. Please don’t interpret that as whining, though – I fully knew what I was getting myself into. I’m one of those compulsive busy people – if I’m not overbooked, I must find more projects to fill my time.
Sure, I get stressed out and miserable from trying to keep up, but if I were to drop something, you can bet I’d find something else to fill that void without even thinking about it. Which is why my Irish dance shoes are dusty, my knitting keeps getting put aside, the half-bath is still half-wallpapered, and Aaron will continue to nag me about sewing him a Jedi outfit. Like I said, it’s an addiction.
You think there’s a pill to fix that?
Oh wait – I’m the one studying pharmacology, aren’t I?
Anyway, back to what I intended to write about: they say that any day you learn something new is a good day. (Who are they? Um, I have no idea. Maybe I’m the only one who says that.) My first day on the postpartum unit for my clinical was Friday, and I did pick up one very important lesson along with the standard stuff we had to learn.
The hospital I was assigned to is inner-city, or as inner-city as you can get in this city. Many students were assigned to the cushy suburban hospitals, where they focus on providing swanky maternity wards with big screen TVs, hardwood floors and aromatherapy. This hospital is more concerned with all of the traumas that are being brought in the front doors and by helicopter. Maternity isn’t their chief concern. So you can imagine that many people who have a choice decide to not have their babies at this hospital.
Doing a health history for my patient, I look over all of the normal stuff: young, third child, no steady partner, drinks, smokes, little prenatal care, etc. We start talking about her support network, and I ask if she has any family she can depend on.
“Yeah, my dad helps me out, and my grandma drives me where I need to go. I don’t see my mom much anymore because she smokes.”
I keep going, finishing out the history and thanking her for letting students ask her a thousand questions. Later, reviewing the data with my clinical partner, I see that information again.
“Wait a second. She said she smokes a few cigarettes everyday, right?”
“Yeah.”
“So why did she say she no longer sees her mom because she smokes? That doesn’t make sense.”
While he didn’t show it on the outside, I’m sure he was rolling his eyes at me inwardly. “She meant crack. Her mom smokes crack.”
It was like the light of not-so-divine revelation shined down on me. “Ooooooooo, OK. I get it now,” I replied.
Somehow I feel a little less innocent now.
Clinical Day 1 Lesson: Always ask for clarification when using the term “smokes”.
Jan 25, 2008
Haiku Friday: Cooking Plastic Cupcakes
By ·
We have a new chef
She’s a better cook than me
Want some plastic food?
She’s a better cook than me
Want some plastic food?
(Excuse the messy corner we shoved the kitchen into.)
Cordy has been making huge advances in imaginative play lately. One area that surprised me was her sudden interest in play kitchens and play food. Since I want to encourage her imagination any way I can, I searched high and low for a gently used play kitchen. (After all, have you seen how much those things cost new?)
I found a nice one, and the night we brought it home, she was so excited that she didn’t want to go to bed. Actually, she wanted to go to bed, but she wanted to take the kitchen to bed with her. Uh, no. Sorry, kid, I’m not carrying that thing upstairs.
The next day, our imaginary stomachs were filled beyond capacity with cupcakes and several helpings of breakfast foods. (All we have are plastic cupcakes and breakfast foods right now.) She would insist we each eat a cupcake, then run back to her kitchen with her cupcake tray to make more.
While we now have plastic food and miniature pots and pans scattered all over the living room now, I’m happy to play along with her cooking games. Seeing her imagination sprout and take flight is exciting, and if eating a few more plastic cupcakes helps it, I’m game.
Besides, plastic cupcakes are fat-free.
To play along for Haiku Friday, follow these steps:
1. Write your own haiku on your blog. You can do one or many, all following a theme or just random. What’s a haiku, you ask? Click here.
2. Sign the Mister Linky below or at Jennifer’s blog with your name and the link to your haiku post (the specific post URL, not your generic blog URL). If you need help with this, contact Jennifer or myself.
3. Pick up a Haiku Friday button to display on the post or in your sidebar by clicking the button above.
