I find it interesting that someone found my site by doing a Google search for “stage combat Columbus Ohio”. I decided to check out where I ranked in that list, and wouldn’t you know it? I’m first.

Gee, I feel so special, considering I mentioned Aaron’s stage combat in one post. Wait, that would be two now, I guess.

Must tell my husband to update his site and include more talk about stage combat.

See, Aaron? This is why you should get certified and start teaching in Columbus. It’s clearly an open playing field.

Oh, and in case you’re searching for stage combat choreography in Columbus: Aaron is for hire.

Now back to your regularly scheduled mommy blog.

Today my daughter is 15 months old. Just 15 months ago I was at the hospital, having her cut out of me, because she was too damn stubborn to turn head down. I now believe that a person’s personality can be seen even before they are born: Cordelia is proof of that. But that story is for another day.

We celebrated the 15 month anniversary of her birth with a visit to the pediatrician for her well-baby checkup. She was happy at first, showing off her new walking skills in the waiting room, smiling at the other kids in the room, and being damn cute. But then her name was called, and as I started to walk her back the hallway to the examination room, her eyes widened as if she had a flashback and remembered that she did. not. like. this. place. Then the crying started.

First up were the statistics. She weighed in at 25 lbs 12 ozs. That put her in the 90th percentile for her age. No big surprise there, since she’s always been near the top. Her height was 32.5 inches. This was a big jump – at 12 months she was 30 inches and in the 75th percentile. Now she’s back up into the 95th percentile again.

Finally, they measured her head size. 19.5 inches. I snickered while the nurse placed the dot on her chart at, oh, around the 120th percentile mark. Yes, my daughter has a large head. “Would ya look at the size of that kid’s head! It’s the size of a planetoid and it has it’s own weather system! Looks like an orange on a toothpick! I’m not kidding, that kid’s head is like Sputnik; spherical but quite pointy at parts!” (bonus points for naming the movie here)

The nurse then left her alone, and Cordy calmed down and decided to explore the little room we were in. The fun was soon dispersed when the doctor came in the room. Cordy gave him the evil eye and hugged my knee as if it was a shield between her and the mean guy with the pokey things.

The doctor’s comments:

“She’s growing well.” Well, duh. It’s clear the kid is an amazon. My mom is already dreaming of her being a basketball player. Or maybe hockey. Still, I have to admit I love seeing those stats. You’d think I was judging her stats like a report card – everything in the 90’s, so she’s getting an A. I must tell myself, it’s not a race.

“As long as she’s eating well, she doesn’t need vitamins.” Good to know. And as long as you consider ice cream, chicken nuggets, and PB&J eating well, then she’s great. Eating fruits and veggies is often a bit of a battle, though.

“What made you think she should be wearing soft shoes? Put her in hard soled shoes for normal foot development.” OK, this one made me a wee bit angry. Gee, where did I get a crazy idea like that? Maybe it was from reading the quotes of pediatricians recommending soft shoes, or maybe it was this research done by Dr. Lynn T. Staheli, director of orthopedics at Children’s Hospital? Or it could have been the information I found from the Canadian Pediatric Society, but, well, they’re Canadians, so we can’t trust them, right? Or maybe it was something I read from those quacks over at the American Academy of Pediatrics, but what do they know, anyway?

“She certainly has good lungs.” Yeah, and if you put your finger any closer, you might even get to experience how strong her teeth are as well.

“Oh, we’re all out of the flu shot.” They gave my daughter a half dose of the flu vaccine a month ago, but didn’t think to keep any back for when she needed the other half? *bangs head against wall*

Don’t get me wrong: I sorta like Cordy’s pediatrician. He’s friendly and seems like a nice guy, but he doesn’t have the touch that our old nurse practicioner had (she retired when Cordy was 9 months old). And he looks at me funny when I tell him of research I’ve read, or when I tell him we give Cordy organic whole milk. He’s young, and probably fresh out of med school, and clearly seems a little nervous around educated parents. I’m going to give him another try or two, and then switch doctors if my opinion of him doesn’t improve.

Finally, what doctor’s visit could be complete without shots? Cordelia got two today, including her first MMR, which the nurse informed me was probably painful for her. Great. Cordy was so upset at that point that she didn’t even want me to comfort her. Probably thinking I’m the worst mommy ever for putting her through that. Sigh…this isn’t the last time you’ll have to do things you don’t like, child.

The good news is that Cordelia is as healthy as can be. Her reflux is pretty much gone, so we can discontinue her meds for that. She’s right on track developmentally, including her temper and stranger anxiety. And, barring any illness, we won’t have to see the inside of that office again until 18 months.

Today I found out that our natural gas bill will be going up 49% for January. That’s not a typo: forty-nine percent! This is after several other smaller, although no less significant, rate increases over the past few months. They say the rate increases are due to the hurricanes in the Gulf, and that things won’t return to normal until this next summer, when we won’t need the natural gas as much. How convenient for them.

According to Columbia Gas, this means that the average family here in Ohio will be paying $315.90 to heat their house this January, versus $212.66 this month.

Looking at our past gas bills, the highest we have paid was about $200, and that was last January. We were shocked when our fairly low usage November bill turned out to be $130. If the weather continues to confuse Ohio with the Arctic Circle, we’ll probably have a $400 gas bill for January.

That amount is more than a budget breaker – it’s downright painful. We’ll be able to cover it somehow; as a last resort, we can always use money from our small emergency savings account (which I think this would qualify as a proper use for). And there’s a chance we’ll be getting some cash for Chrismukkah, which could partially go towards the bill.

But what worries me far more is how will those who don’t have an emergency savings and those living on strict budgets make it through the winter?

Most homes in this area are heated using natural gas. Portable space heaters can only do so much, and they pose a huge fire risk: just last night a father and daughter were killed in Columbus when their heater caught fire. And I can’t imagine going without heat.

When I drive to my father-in-law’s house, I pass a run down house that shows signs of people living there, including children. But several of the windows are broken out. One window has cardboard covering it, and another has a blanket over it. I can’t even imagine how cold it gets. I want to run up to that house, give them all coats and warm blankets and somehow magically fix their windows.

Our governor (you know, the one who got impeached) is releasing extra welfare money for heating assistance this winter, but I don’t know how much it will help. I think this situation shows that there needs to be a more permanent solution for helping people heat their homes.

As for us, we can count ourselves lucky that we have all of our windows and even though it will hurt, we’ll be able to pay our gas bill. Tonight I’m going out in search of heavy curtains for our house. While our house is less than 2 years old, it still seems to have several air leaks, and there is always a draft near the living room windows. Hopefully heavy curtains will help keep the warm air in a little better.

We’ll also continue washing all of our clothes in cold water and taking shorter showers to keep the use of natural gas to a minimum with the hot water heater. The house temperature is set at 68, and I hope we won’t have to lower it more than that. I found a good list of natural gas conservation tips here.

I think I now know what I want for Christmas, but I don’t know if the gas company sells gift certificates?

Cordy and I enjoyed a fun morning of Wiggles and playtime before I went to work today. She slept in until 8:40 (which is AMAZING – she’s normally up by 6:30!), and best of all: she woke up in a good mood! I was amazed at my luck! Normally Aaron gets up with her in the morning, but he had to go into work at dark-thirty today, and I was left to get up with her (sorry dear, guess it was my lucky day). So, to celebrate, here are some pictures of Cordelia doing what she does best: look cute.

Some kids teeth using teething rings and toys. Mine? She prefers a sock:

Attack of the spoon-baby!!

Impish smile:

Now, I’ve seen a lot of discussion on the blogosphere and forums about how to have a Christmas tree and toddler live together peacefully in the same home. Some suggest not decorating the bottom third of the tree. Others say to put only unbreakable ornaments down low.

Our solution? Cage it:

And for those looking closely, yes, it is a geek tree. You can probably spot several superhero ornaments, and the Darth Tater hiding on the shelf behind the tree.

Kristi has tagged me to tell the world 5 weird or quirky things about myself. OK, you asked for it:

1. I am not squeamish, and in fact, have a fascination with death. This in no way means I am seeking it out, but I find the rituals and taboos surrounding death very interesting. I love watching the Discovery Health channel. Yes, I watched it all the time for Special Delivery and all the other labor and delivery shows when I was pregnant, but I’m also a big fan of Dr. G, Medical Examiner. She spends her time examining dead bodies to help discover what it was that killed them – how cool is that!? OK, yeah, I said it was weird. Oh, and I love the new TV drama Bones – about a forensic anthropologist solving crimes by using evidence found on a dead person.

2. I know more than the average bear about Tudor and Elizabethan England. After all, that’s what I got my degree in. I also spent 10 years working at the Ohio Renaissance Festival as a performer and historical advisor. It was an amazing time in history – the English Reformation, the first great English Queen, the fabulous clothing! If you ever need help writing a paper on it, I’m a wealth of information. Just don’t take me to see a movie about that time period – you’d get sick of me muttering, “That didn’t happen” and “That’s not quite right” and “What a horrible attempt at costuming!”

3. I love to start new things, but have a lot more trouble finishing them. That’s why I currently have 6 cross-stitch projects that are unfinished (including the ABC’s quilt that was supposed to be for Cordy when she was born), 1 knitting project that may never be finished, lots of baby slings that I need to work harder on selling, and countless books that I have started yet never made it to the end. I guess I get really excited about new things, but then once I’m into them, it’s not as exciting anymore, and so I lose interest. Good thing I’m not that way about parenting.

4. I’m incredibly blase. My husband loves to point this out. It takes a lot to really get me upset or excited or impressed or anything (unless it involves my daughter – any action by her gets a response from me). His best example: when the title of the second Star Wars film was announced (Attack of the Clones), we had a discussion about it with some friends. At one point, our friend Jonn picked up a pair of fabric shears (scissors, for those of you who don’t sew), and pretended to stab himself with them repeatedly, saying “Kill me now!”. Without losing a beat, I said “Jonn, don’t use those. They’re only for cutting fabric.” Apparently everyone found my lack of emotion hilarious. To be honest, fabric shears should only be used on fabric; cutting anything else will dull the blades.

5. Like Kristi, I’m so not a girlie-girl. Nearly all of my favorite outfits involve a pair of jeans and a sweater, sweatshirt, or t-shirt. I only dress up for special occasions, or for the Renaissance Festival, but that’s different (I’m the one in red & gold). Pink is usually not something I can stand. I made it a point to have no pink decorations when putting together Cordy’s nursery. I also rarely wear makeup, and I always ask that my hair is cut in such a way that I can wash it, comb it, and go. Bangs are forbidden.

So, there you go, 5 weird things about me. Now, will anyone keep coming back to read my blog after this, or did I scare everyone away?