It’s not until you have kids of your own that you realize how DIY this whole child-rearing thing can be. Parenting just seems so simple in theory (love them enough and they will turn out fine) and so ridiculously complex in practice (should I let her hold the pen for a few minutes while I watch her, or should I preemptively pull it from her hands for fear she might sprint off with it and have it lodge firmly in […]
I have an old shoebox I keep close at hand these days, and I pull it out when Quinn is self-entertaining for a minute or two, or when she is asleep and I’m not. Inside is a needle and thread, tiny jinglebells, gold glitter, a red felt stocking, and felt shapes that I drew and cut out. I am a terrible sewer: I usually just wear a coat with a button missing rather than repair it, and I couldn’t even […]
Ever since I got pregnant with baby #2 four months ago, I’ve gotten hints of what’s to come for my first baby: Immediate move to “big girl” status on or around June 3, 2011, even though she’ll only be 23 months old. That thought makes me really, really sad.
The crazy thing about toddlers is they seem so much like little kids, but they still have so much baby in them, too. I really think that’s as it should be, and […]
Today, at the toy store, I did something really scary: I held up two baby dolls with different skin colors, and I explicitly pointed this difference out to my daughter. “One baby has black skin and one baby has white skin,” I said. “But they both seem like very nice babies. Should we take this one?”
Then I pushed the black baby doll into Quinn’s hands and we gave her a kiss and brought her to the clerk. And I succesfully […]
When Quinn was just a newborn, we brought her out to my parent’s cabin in Lake Chelan. One day, we went to visit a neighbor (and dear family friend) who was having a terrible week: His mother, who lived across the country, was dying, and he was getting painful hourly updates from family members at her bedside.
None of us knew exactly what to say, but we slogged along anyway. At some point in the conversation, he reached out for Quinn. […]
Who knew it would be a bad idea to travel across the country in my first trimester? That it might not be too bright to take a tiring flight with my toddler and then drive up a canyon to a cabin that’s about 8,000 feet above our house in Seattle?
Well, I knew. I knew that my morning sickness, already making me miserable, would most likely get worse. But Todd and I planned this trip to visit his family in Colorado […]
Quinn is madly in love with me right now. Randomly, throughout the day, she will grab hold of my arm, or stroke my hair, or touch my face while proudly proclaiming “MY mama.”
It is the cutest, sweetest thing, ever.
She also loves to give me kisses and hugs, to point at my nose and her nose, solemnly informing me “noe.” She is also really into nursing right now, though she’s still only doing it 3-4 times in a 24 hour period. […]
I was in a local consignment shop the other day, checking out the clothes in the 12-18 months size, when I came across a T-shirt that read “Big Sister.” Did I mention that I was in the 12-18 months section?? I was like, Et tu, Carter’s?
It seems like as soon as the fog of new parenthood clears just slightly, I mean just enough so that you can see your hand in front of your face on some days, the entire […]
A few weeks ago, I watched in amusement (and horror) as Quinn reached for our T.V. remote (the one we’d de-batteried and left within her general reach), cupped it to her ear, and said “Hieee?”
Had she really seen me on the phone that much? No, I had been careful about not talking too much, or at least talking when I thought she was otherwise engaged, or at least talking for only very very short conversations. Hadn’t I?
But the reality of […]
I am not just a control freak, I am an I-need-to -stay-alert-every-second-of-the-flight-or-else-the-plane-will-crash control freak. I am also a planner, a list-maker, an organizer and a workaholic.
Or, wait, I mean I was those things. A long time ago. Back before I became a mom. (Just 14 months ago.)
I had approached motherhood the way I had approached all other milestones: with a carefully detailed five-year-plan that I followed to a T. Hubby and I married in 2004, I got my Master’s Degree […]