What is the fascination with this book? I read it to Maggie every night and she loves it, but personally, I don't get it. It actually scares me a little...what's with the old rabbit lady sitting in a corner of a dark room whispering "hush"?? I have nightmares about her. But I do not want to be the type of mother that injects my fears into her so I stifle my fear and keep on reading.
Erik has such a hatred for the book he refuses to read any of the words. He'll turn the pages but will make up his own story, usually in some unidentified accent. I have to admit, I leave the monitor on when he's putting her to bed so I can be entertained as well. Wonder what she must think of him? I can't wait to hear it all come out when she can actually talk.
Our new bedtime routine is this: a bath, a bottle, an episode of Wonder Pets, Goodnight Moon (mom or dad version) and a song. I truly think the episode of Wonder Pets is more for us than for her, but it is much easier to say we are watching it because she wants to. But that little chick...could he be any cuter? Erik pointed out that he can't say his "r's" and they always give him the r words ("it's see-wee-ous!") and it's so true (or if I can be truly corny, twoo)! If you haven't had the pleasure of watching this, find your Noggin channel and tune in at 7 and 7:15 any night.
Speaking of Noggin, I am now starting to worry a little about Erik. I have actually heard him utter these statements: "oh, we can't watch now, Max and Ruby's on, Max and Ruby SUCKS!", "Maggie, you can't go play yet Moose A Moose and Zee is on!", "awesome, Backyardigan's, we like that one". It may be time for an intervention.
But never have I heard him say anything about the strangest show of all, Oobi. For those of you who ever watch The Soup, you have seen clips of this odd show and wondered who watches it. Well, it's me. Because apparently it mesmerizes little kids. Erik and I watched it with Maggie one morning in silence and after it was over, never uttered a word about it. I guess it is just like the given in Geometry. Oobi is just strange and there is no further explanation needed. From the Noggin website: Oobi, a bare-hand puppet (with eyes and accessories) focuses on the stage in a young child’s life when everything in his or her world is new and incredible. Need I say more? He is a bare-handed puppet with eyes and accessories.
Leave it to us to incorporate TV into our young child's development. I know some parents might read this and judge me for it...but we figure she might as well get used to being a Crawford early. We are slaves to the TV at whatever age.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
Worker Bee
Ever since Maggie has been mobile, she has had a very strong work ethic. We would put her in her exersaucer and it was almost like her mission to accomplish every task on it to perfection. Move the red heart, then green, then yellow, then blue...then back again... We sit her on her playmat and she has to make sure to remove the cards that slide into her Leapfrog piano no matter what else she is doing. She could be engrossed in something entirely different but if those cards are in the Leapfrog piano they MUST be removed! For our entertainment we stick the cards in just to see what she'll do. She never gets annoyed or frustrated, she just takes them out and moves on to what she was doing.
Now that she can walk with assistance, her new mission is to take whatever the toy du jour is and move it from the ottoman to the exersaucer and back, sometimes making a stop at the end table. She holds up her hand for someone to grab and walks back and forth as if there is a reason why she is doing this. I would love to know what it is because I'm sure there is one. And as if it's not hard enough to walk when you really can't balance on your own, she must always have a toy in each hand. I watched her try to figure out how she was going to grab my hands while still keeping her maraca in her hand and after dropping the maraca several times, she bent down, picked it up and found a way to grab my hand while still holding it. Did I mention she's a genius?? :)
I'm not sure what (if anything) this all means...will she be a problem solver? will she be an engineer? a doctor? an accountant? an assemblyline worker? or will she follow in the glamorous footsteps of her mom and dad and be a product marketing manager or a legal analyst? Whatever it is, I find it fascinating to watch. I just hope she aims a little higher than mom and dad!
Now that she can walk with assistance, her new mission is to take whatever the toy du jour is and move it from the ottoman to the exersaucer and back, sometimes making a stop at the end table. She holds up her hand for someone to grab and walks back and forth as if there is a reason why she is doing this. I would love to know what it is because I'm sure there is one. And as if it's not hard enough to walk when you really can't balance on your own, she must always have a toy in each hand. I watched her try to figure out how she was going to grab my hands while still keeping her maraca in her hand and after dropping the maraca several times, she bent down, picked it up and found a way to grab my hand while still holding it. Did I mention she's a genius?? :)
I'm not sure what (if anything) this all means...will she be a problem solver? will she be an engineer? a doctor? an accountant? an assemblyline worker? or will she follow in the glamorous footsteps of her mom and dad and be a product marketing manager or a legal analyst? Whatever it is, I find it fascinating to watch. I just hope she aims a little higher than mom and dad!
Eh?
We went to Delaware this weekend to visit Pop Pop and Abuela. It's been a while since we have taken Maggie on a trip so it was a mystery to us how she would do. She was a perfect little angel the whole time. She ate well, played well, napped well but didn't seem to want to sleep through the night well.
Erik and I both have bad colds so we have little patience for the getting up every hour so we usually cave in and let her sleep in bed with us when she's fussy at night. Since the guest bed was only a full size, Erik slept in another guest room while Maggie slept with me. Now when Maggie wants someone's attention she usually will stare at that person for a while and when she does not get a reaction she goes "eh?" until she gets the attention she so desires. At 1 AM, I hear this little voice going "eh?" "eh?"...I pretended not to hear her but how can you ignore a sweet little voice like that? I open my eyes and Maggie is staring at me, eyes wide open, smiling. I whisper "go to sleep" and she obliges. At 3 AM I hear "eh?" "eh?"...open my eyes, she smiles, I say "go to sleep" and she obliges. This happened once or twice more and I can't say for sure that she ever actually slept that night but she let me sleep which is why I say she was a perfect little angel!
Maggie's Aunt Sarah was also there and brought her dog, Ella. Ella is a very tall goldendoodle which concerned me a little that Maggie might be intimidated by her. She was not, in fact, she was very intrigued by Ella. Ella would come up to Maggie and lick her face and Maggie would just give her a look like "go away, dog" but then 5 seconds later she'd be staring at her giving her the "eh?".
Overall we had a very nice time...good food, good company and good baby. That's what I like.
Erik and I both have bad colds so we have little patience for the getting up every hour so we usually cave in and let her sleep in bed with us when she's fussy at night. Since the guest bed was only a full size, Erik slept in another guest room while Maggie slept with me. Now when Maggie wants someone's attention she usually will stare at that person for a while and when she does not get a reaction she goes "eh?" until she gets the attention she so desires. At 1 AM, I hear this little voice going "eh?" "eh?"...I pretended not to hear her but how can you ignore a sweet little voice like that? I open my eyes and Maggie is staring at me, eyes wide open, smiling. I whisper "go to sleep" and she obliges. At 3 AM I hear "eh?" "eh?"...open my eyes, she smiles, I say "go to sleep" and she obliges. This happened once or twice more and I can't say for sure that she ever actually slept that night but she let me sleep which is why I say she was a perfect little angel!
Maggie's Aunt Sarah was also there and brought her dog, Ella. Ella is a very tall goldendoodle which concerned me a little that Maggie might be intimidated by her. She was not, in fact, she was very intrigued by Ella. Ella would come up to Maggie and lick her face and Maggie would just give her a look like "go away, dog" but then 5 seconds later she'd be staring at her giving her the "eh?".
Overall we had a very nice time...good food, good company and good baby. That's what I like.
Friday, January 25, 2008
She's Italian!!
My friend Lindsay just posted on her blog how her daughter will not eat anything wet. Well, Maggie will not eat anything dry or solid (her motto is, if it isn't pureed it's crap) . I have tried giving her broken up cheerios, sweet potato puffs, ground up meat but each time she acts as if I have forced her to inhale a grape and actually dry heaves until you take it out of her mouth. Did I mention she is slightly dramatic? I can't imagine WHO she gets that from.
So imagine my surprise when, while sitting on Gramma's lap at Maggiano's the other night, she happily ate multiple bites of gnocchi in vodka marinara sauce. So, what is it that she likes the pasta? The tomato sauce? The VODKA??? It was a monumental step for her though. Until now, she has been all about the pureed peas, carrots, apples and pears, etc. My little girl is branching out.
Now shortly after eating the gnocchi, she devoured 2 entire lemon wedges and would have probably eaten the entire lemon if I had one. I tasted the lemon afterward to see if somehow I just had given her a not-very-tart lemon, but, no, it was as tart as it gets!
So it seems my little girl likes her Vodka with lemon...
So imagine my surprise when, while sitting on Gramma's lap at Maggiano's the other night, she happily ate multiple bites of gnocchi in vodka marinara sauce. So, what is it that she likes the pasta? The tomato sauce? The VODKA??? It was a monumental step for her though. Until now, she has been all about the pureed peas, carrots, apples and pears, etc. My little girl is branching out.
Now shortly after eating the gnocchi, she devoured 2 entire lemon wedges and would have probably eaten the entire lemon if I had one. I tasted the lemon afterward to see if somehow I just had given her a not-very-tart lemon, but, no, it was as tart as it gets!
So it seems my little girl likes her Vodka with lemon...
Never Say Never
I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids. How true is the title of this book by Trisha Ashworth?
When I was younger:
I NEVER wanted kids…
But if I did I would NEVER even consider buying a minivan;
And if I did I would NEVER plop her in front of the TV so I could do anything for myself;
And NEVER would I be the type of parent who dotes on every little meaningless, mundane task that she accomplished on a daily basis
Well now it’s today and I have the most beautiful little girl in the world that I completely adore, am fascinated by and could watch the way her little mind works every second of every minute of every day.
I spend my free time searching Carmax for a non-minivan looking minivan knowing that I never (ok, maybe never is too strong of a word) would actually purchase and drive one, but dreaming of how nice it would be to sit in the front seat when Erik and I take a trip together while being able to walk to the backseat to pop a dropped pacifier back in her mouth, look out my rear passenger window while driving and actually see something other than a monstrosity of a car seat, and actually be able to have leg room in the front and back seats. As much as I hate to admit it, my little A4 just isn’t cutting it now that I’m a mom. I can’t remember the last time Erik and I had a conversation in the car that did not involve looking at each other through the rear view mirror. I always told Erik I felt like I was a passenger in his life (not that I was complaining…he just seems to take care of everything and I’m just along for the ride), but never could that be more true than today.
I have been known to prop her up in our bed and turn on Noggin (it’s educational right?) so that I could put some makeup on and maybe do my hair so I at least looked like I looked in the mirror before I left the house. It’s amazing how much what I wore meant to me before Maggie and now as long as I have something on that is covering all of the new “curves” I am perfectly fine with that.
And on many occasions I have been known to point out to Erik that she is ACTUALLY LOOKING AT HER HAND…or that she ACTUALLY HANDED ME HER PACIFIER…or SHE SAID HI DAD! Our child is a genius!!!
So I guess the cliché really is true as much as I NEVER wanted to admit it.
Genesis
What am I doing? I am not a blogger…but I still want to document the moments of Maggie’s life that seem so memorable now but inevitably will be forgotten. So here goes…
To get us up to speed here are the most recent milestones in Maggie’s life:
She recently moved up to the Infant II room in daycare (which we fondly call the “big girl room”). This room is for “mobile infants” which technically Maggie is not. She is still too stubborn to crawl and seems to think sitting with her back to you and putting up each arm one at a time as if to say “GRAB IT” and making us walk her around the house endlessly is how she is going to be mobile for the rest of her young life. At this rate, she will be entering high school with me holding both hands about her head walking her in. So as of now, Maggie sits in the middle of the room and watches the other kids crawl around to get to toys out of their reach. She looks at them like “you are crazy to go through all that effort when, look, I do this (right arm UP, left arm UP) and I’m walking!” Suckers…
She just started “playing back” where she will hand you something and take it back as if she is taking it away from you. She gets quite a kick out of this and of course I do too. Now this just started yesterday so maybe it was her just reaching her arm out with a toy in her hand and I turned it into her playing back. Who knows.
Within the last few weeks she has learned to put herself to sleep and back to sleep when she wakes up. This is the best thing ever as a parent because until 3 weeks ago Erik and I were slaves to the 10 PM, 12 AM, 2 AM and 4 AM wake ups. Some of them lasting over 1 ½ hours. We had to adopt the “every other night” policy where one of us would put her to bed and “had her” until 10 PM and the other “had her” the rest of the night. At least you knew on your off night that you were getting a full night’s sleep. Now THAT is teamwork. Now, after 2 nights of letting her cry it out (how cruel I thought BEFORE I had kids!) she has learned the amazing feat of putting herself to sleep. And we have never been happier.
As mentioned above, she loves to walk around the house with someone holding her hands. She also likes to walk back and forth in between your outstretched legs as if she’s walking on her own. She has been known to stand on her own for 3 seconds flat too!
To get us up to speed here are the most recent milestones in Maggie’s life:
She recently moved up to the Infant II room in daycare (which we fondly call the “big girl room”). This room is for “mobile infants” which technically Maggie is not. She is still too stubborn to crawl and seems to think sitting with her back to you and putting up each arm one at a time as if to say “GRAB IT” and making us walk her around the house endlessly is how she is going to be mobile for the rest of her young life. At this rate, she will be entering high school with me holding both hands about her head walking her in. So as of now, Maggie sits in the middle of the room and watches the other kids crawl around to get to toys out of their reach. She looks at them like “you are crazy to go through all that effort when, look, I do this (right arm UP, left arm UP) and I’m walking!” Suckers…
She just started “playing back” where she will hand you something and take it back as if she is taking it away from you. She gets quite a kick out of this and of course I do too. Now this just started yesterday so maybe it was her just reaching her arm out with a toy in her hand and I turned it into her playing back. Who knows.
Within the last few weeks she has learned to put herself to sleep and back to sleep when she wakes up. This is the best thing ever as a parent because until 3 weeks ago Erik and I were slaves to the 10 PM, 12 AM, 2 AM and 4 AM wake ups. Some of them lasting over 1 ½ hours. We had to adopt the “every other night” policy where one of us would put her to bed and “had her” until 10 PM and the other “had her” the rest of the night. At least you knew on your off night that you were getting a full night’s sleep. Now THAT is teamwork. Now, after 2 nights of letting her cry it out (how cruel I thought BEFORE I had kids!) she has learned the amazing feat of putting herself to sleep. And we have never been happier.
As mentioned above, she loves to walk around the house with someone holding her hands. She also likes to walk back and forth in between your outstretched legs as if she’s walking on her own. She has been known to stand on her own for 3 seconds flat too!
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