Exploration!

Lately, we’ve been doing a lot of exploring around here.  I’m going to try to sum it all up as best I can.  

We explored how to use the dishwasher as a water table:

We explored cotton balls, q-tips, and baby-bottle caps:

We explored flour:

We explored Machu Picchu:

 

We explored a mountain next to Machu Picchu (Huyanapicchu):

 

We explored mold on that mountain in search of Hidden Mickeys:

 

We explored drinking with a straw for the first time:

 

We explored Llama-petting (Both llamas and E have two bottom teeth.  Awwww...):

 

We explored swimming in a pool for the first time:

 

We explored Easter-egg hunting:

 

We explored stair-climbing (first try - floor to top in 30 seconds flat without a problem):

 

We explored how to reach new heights:

 

We explored our new baby-pool:

 

We explored beneath a puppy-dog (it was kind of like a reverse-zoo):

 

We explored music (she's a prodigy!):

 

We explored a spiny kiwano (tastes like banana, cucumber, & lemon...mostly cucumber):

 

We explored climbing down the step into the kitchen unassisted:

 

We explored the taste of slinkys (and everything else…the child is part-goat!):

 

TMI WARNING… Scroll down if you still want to know what else we explored.

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We also explored what frog poop looks like (poor guy...it was ultimately half his size!):

 

As you can see, it’s been an adventurous month and a half for us!

A quick summary upon which I shall elaborate soon.

Life has been delightfully busy.  Here are the tidbits:

E was a giraffe for Halloween!  Thanks Nonni!

My mom has a tumor that was discovered in June.  Totally treatable, but still ongoing at the moment.  She finished chemo in October, and to celebrate, we went on a cruise just before Thanksgiving.  

My parents, sister, bro-in-law, us, and the ocean.

 

We had a lovely time, and Little Bit is quite convinced (thanks to being one of the only babies on the ship) that all strangers should stop and greet her and tell her she's cute.  

Note:  She can be in the middle of crying, and if someone walks by and coos at her, she'll grin, with tears on her cheeks and all, until they leave.  Then, when they've gone, she goes back to fussing for us.  

Sigh.  Extrovert.

            

Lovin' great grandpa Gray.

Oh!  And she thoroughly enjoyed the ocean and playing in the sand.  So did her dad.  So did I, for that matter, which is a huge improvement for me.  Normally I avoid sand at all costs.  :o)

Four generations

During the cruise, Emily gained a pound and a half, so she apparently totally gets the cruising life: eat, sleep, eat, repeat. 

(Most people add sunbathing to this list, but not pale people or babies, so there.)

The Tuesday after Thanksgiving, mom had surgery to remove the tumor.  They got part of it, and she is now home and recovering.  She'll have radiation once she's all healed up.  Stay tuned. 

 

Randomly, have I ever mentioned my love for Nutella?  No?  Hmm...  Well, then I should tell you...

I. Love. NUTELLA!  

We found these beauties in the duty free shop on the ship.  A 7-day pack and a jar the size of my firstborn.  Ah-mazing!

Moving on...

Thanksgiving was delightful!  We went to Cracker Barrel for lunch (it was delish), and then we went to our friends' house for dinner.  It was probably the most people-full and food-varied Thanksgiving affair I've been to in at least ten years.  There were endless options, and everything tasted WONDERFUL!

Just got this adorable guy on sale the day before Thanksgiving!

Also, in honor of Thanksgiving weekend, Matt, E, and I had a little R&R time, just the three of us.  We watched Pirates 4 and Cars 2, and now we feel caught up with the rest of the world.  We also bought this year's tree, Theodore, and he put lights on our roof.  He-Matt, not he-Theodore.  Obviously.  Although we did put lights on he-Theodore as well.

Emily and Theodore the Tree

So far this December, we've had two movie nights (beginning at 9pm till late!), 2 Zelda-playing nights (thanks M & K), at least 2 board game nights (maybe more...I lose count easily), a book club meeting (me, not Matt), we've seen Dickens Christmas Carolers, the Singing Christmas Trees at First Orlando, gone to a Christmas party, and we've sung carols by our tree at home.  Ah...festivities!

Other Little Bit updates, for those wondering:

 - She is on the tail end of her very first cold. (4.5 weeks and counting, with a touch of RSV thrown in sometime near the middle.  It's out of her lungs now.)

 - She eats all kinds of foods: peas, green beans, pumpkin, squash, carrots (don't agree with her, so only small amounts), applesauce, banana, avocado (she's not a huge fan, but stay tuned), and grains.  

 - She had her first sip of water from a glass last Saturday.  She grabbed my glass, lifted it to her lips, and drank straight from it, like it was no big deal.  What a big girl!

 - She is totally aware of cameras and how they work.  She will stop whatever cute activity she's engaged in the minute she sees a camera and smile until it goes away.  Hmm...wonder where she gets it?

 - She is also a Skype-pro.  She grins the moment the program opens and smiles and coos at every relative she sees.  Smart girl.

Alrighty.  Now you're in the know. 

Merry December!  

(I would say Christmas, but it's a tad far away and yet I still feel merry, so there.)

-T

Who am I?

My hubby is out of town this weekend.  

I'm thrilled for him, because he's at Dragon-Con - a slightly geeky festival of geekiness.

Someone asked me last night if I missed him, and I promptly responded, "nope".

You see, in the past, he's traveled for nearly a month on end to various other countries, so for him to be in the same time zone 6 hours away for a few days is not stressful at all.  In fact, we usually get along quite well after short breaks like this.

Well...that was my answer until this morning.  

As it turns out, I miss him quite a lot, and I was just in denial.  

Actually, I take him for granted in a huge way, and he is an extension of my life.  Without him, I'm not really sure who I am.  

Here are the times I missed him today so far:

 1.  Waking up.  Sunday-morning-cuddle fail. 

 1b.  Sunday-afternoon-nap-cuddle fail.

Baby girl totally gets the Sunday nap thing!

2.   Getting out the door today.  I woke up at 7:38, I never slowed down, and I still left the house at 9:05 (20 minutes late).  Let's just say there were several moments I wished I could do a hand-off.

 3.   Introducing ourselves myself in Sunday School.  We always say who we are, how long we've been married, and answer a question of the day.  Today I was solo.  It's weird to introduce someone who isn't there.

 4.   Carrying our child all over church by myself.  She's a growin' girl!  I needed man muscles!

Here she is for the first time in her Bumbo.  See?  Growin' girl!

5.   Hearing the pastor say, "reach over and take your spouse's hand as we talk today about the 7th Commandment." 

5b.  The love song sing-along before the sermon.  I sang to the baby.  No...*sniff...problem.

6.   Having someone to spend the day with.  

Example...flying a kite. 

Disclaimer - the picture looks much prettier than the actual evening.  A few mosquitoes, ant bites, and sudden moments of ZERO wind may have made me a tad grumpy, but I'm going to keep the picture anyway.  Sometimes life gets grumpy.  It's ok.  There can be a prettiness in that.

7.  Someone to kill bugs for me.  I have to *shiver* do it all by myself.  Sadness! 

This is a TERRIFYINGLY HUGE spider he killed for me last week.  My hero!

8.  Really, I just missed him because part of me was gone.  It's hard to have so many moments that you know he would like that you're enjoying without him.  I'm not myself when he's not around.  He's my other half. 

Damp, Dirty, Messy Gratitude

Today, I became a REAL mom.  Today I...

• ...cut my finger on a razor (I was searching for something else in a spot I couldn't see clearly, and I grabbed it with my finger.) *This is not a real mom moment, but it's relevant to the second bullet point, and my finger is still throbbing, so I counted it a bullet-worthy-event on it's own.

• ...fed Emily a bottle instead of nursing for timing reasons (I let her sleep in and then cut my finger, thus skewing my exit strategy a bit.)

• ...witnessed my body go into overflowing mama mode (not nursing overnight OR in the morning apparently has consequences.  Duly noted.)

• ...may have fed her a tiny bit extra in an attempt to stem the surplus. 

• ...received my surplus "gift" back from my generous daughter.  Repeatedly.  (I went through two burp cloths and a receiving blanket.  Oh, and my previously wet shirt became even soggier during this hour-long process of re-gifting.)

• ...had an awkward social encounter as I attempted to use humor to deal with the situation.  Don't ask.  

• ...went through two diapers at once during a diaper change.

• ...had the privilege of testing out our "Wee Guard Car-Seat Saver" (a handy contraption for protecting the car seat from exciting diaper issues) on a massive diaper blowout.  It worked!  Car seat saved!  Em's outfit...not so much.  It didn't come home from lunch with us.  Neither did 18 wipes.  

• ...was outsmarted by a feisty gas pump...almost!  (We got along once I finally remembered to enter my zip code.  Today's events plus gas fumes apparently overwhelmed my brain cells --- or my "read-the-tiny-beeping-screen-and-follow-directions" cells).

• ...gave Em and myself mid-day baths (and trimmed her nails for the second time in 3 days).

• ...plunged a toilet.

The craziest part is that, despite all of these REAL mom moments, I'm extremely grateful.  Not so long ago, such events would have resulted in a massive meltdown with serious entitlement issues (i.e. "I deserve a vanilla Dr. Pepper from Sonic" --- hey, I didn't say I have expensive entitlement issues!)  Instead, I'm content and even a little happy.  All I know is that I'm quite thankful for God's grace.  I'm pretty sure He gave me a double scoop today.  Hopefully today's extra grace wasn't taken from tomorrow!  Either way, I didn't melt down today.  Not even once.  (Stay tuned about tomorrow, though.)

I know there will sometimes be melt-down-y days, and frankly, today would have been understandable, but I'm filled with damp, dirty, messy gratitude that today didn't ruin life.