Ready for Her Close Up

What do you do when you actually have time to waste? You make your kid a cover model. This is too fun. Try it at parenting.com.

Danica Patrick, be warned.

Bald Is Beautiful

In my post yesterday I mentioned that KC still looks a little baby-ish even though she’s clearly moved past the infant stage at 13 (going on 14) months. Here’s a few recent pics to illustrate:

Popcorn anyone?

Did my feet always hang off the end of this thing?

Direct that shine over here, kid. I'm trying to start a campfire.

It’s a bald head, but a damn cute one. It’s low maintenance too. Can’t beat that. Some people joke that she’s taking after Dad…

Who does your hair? It's fabulous!

…good guess, but not true. I’ve seen photos, and Ted had a lustrous head of golden locks as a wee lad. She totally takes after me. I am told I was rather bald until almost age 2. Grandma can correct me if I’m wrong. Take heart, sweetie pie, I’ve got pretty thick hair now. Stylists always say so.

Moving Right Along

It’s Monday and I’m taking a day off. A gift from my boss for working this past Saturday at our show in Baltimore. It’s nice to be home alone. KC went off to Grandma’s (like normal) so I can get some things done. I was planning to pull out Halloween decorations, but it seems my husband stuck a large foam board in the crawl space entrance. It’s wedged in pretty tight and I just can’t get it to budge. Oh, well. Guess he’ll have to pry it out tonight.

Halloween is this Friday and we are behind in getting the decorations up outside. No big deal. It’s kind of cool to do it a day or two before. Ted loves Halloween. We have decorations to “spookify” the front of the house. We even use real Tiki torches to line the front walk for dramatic effect. We have two big pumpkins to carve, and one little one for KC. I just need candy and we are all set.

The switch was flipped on Fall while I was in Baltimore. The weather is definitely cooler and the leaves are changing fast. It always seems to happen just before Halloween. My memories of Trick-or-Treating are filled with crunchy leaves on the sidewalks, and a brisk temperature that meant sweatshirts, or turtlenecks under my pretty costumes. (Such a bummer.)

Another switch was flipped while I was away this past weekend. KC is beginning to talk at a faster rate. She’s getting really good at repeating what you say. Pronunciation has a way to go, but she tries to say almost everything you encourage. She has a few words she uses all on her own. Words like cat, up, no, ball, cup (or bup as she says it), banana, and bath. She recognizes objects and can use the words for some of them. She understands what we mean when we ask her to do certain things. I know she’s been developing these skills for a while, but now it’s in full force. It’s funny how the major stuff tends to sneak up on me.

We look at books a lot. She brings us about 5 or 6 a day to flip through. This Sunday I started pointing out her eyes, nose and mouth. She caught on really fast. Last night while reading a book that asks “Where’s baby’s mouth?” she was able to locate hers and mine. Of course pointing to the mouth means putting her fingers in the mouth. Ditto for the eyes, and the nose. Yuck, the nose…her little finger shoved up so far it looks painful. It’s pretty funny actually. I cannot help but laugh while saying “No! You don’t pick your nose!” or “You can’t pick other people’s noses.” when she goes for mine. This makes her laugh (with finger fully engaged) and then I laugh even harder.

Now is the time to really curb the swearing. Actually, I’m pretty sure that time has passed. I’m horrible. I really am. Her Dad’s not much better. It’s difficult, but we really need to try harder. There are other habits we need to alter as well. Her Dad has a bad habit of, ahem, passing gas in front of us and not saying “excuse me”. As a matter of fact, he often does it to be funny. You know, like he’s 10 or something. I scolded him the other night and warned that if we encourage that sort of thing, KC might think it’s normal. Then, when she finally goes to school, she will end up being “that kid”. Uncool. Time to start teaching her the normal etiquette people expect in public.

Yes, things are moving right along. She is fun to watch. The only thing she is behind on is growing hair, but that’s not her fault. She got that from me. I don’t think I got real hair until almost 2 years. It makes it harder to remember she’s not an infant anymore. With the round face, and that (almost completely) bald head she still resembles one to a degree. She isn’t. She’s a real little person. She’s improved on the walking and can now run. She’s even starting to throw some real tantrums, and scowl at us when we use our parental authority. Should make for some more funny stories down the road.

On the Road Again

Tomorrow begins another “Workation” for me. That makes two this month. Although this one will be a bit more work than the Vegas trip was. It’s for my own company and I know we’ll be running and “schmoozing” the entire time. Except for bedtime. That will still be blessed quiet in a nice (I hope) hotel room.

This one is closer to home. It’s in Baltimore. Not as exciting as Vegas, but perhaps more my speed. It’s pretty cool by the Inner Harbor where this convention center is located. There will be some evening events with co-workers and attendees that should be a pretty good time. Yes, despite the early staff meetings and sore feet I am kind of looking forward to the change of pace. Again.

However, it’s only been about a week since I returned from Vegas. Coming home to KC (and Ted) was really nice. I missed them. I’ve barely had time to get tired from my Mommy duties yet. Too bad this second trip couldn’t have come in mid-December instead. A little break before the chaos of Christmas ensues. Only 63 shopping days left. Good Lord. This year went fast.

I’ll be offline until Sunday. See you guys next week.

You Will Respect Mah Authoritah!

Sometimes I think we appear about as funny as Cartman to KC when we attempt discipline, so this image seemed appropriate. Take this weekend for example. KC is banging a big Lego on the sliding glass door. Hard.

Yes, it’s big enough that she can’t swallow it and choke. Calm down.

I give her the stern face and (sort of) yell for her to stop. (“No. Stop it. Come over here.”) She thinks this is wonderful (Mommy seems excited by my actions right now.) and keeps doing it. I take it away. She toddles to find another one and starts up again. This time I take them all and put them away. She seems a bit baffled, but does she get what just happened? I seriously doubt it.

Typically, if something gets an excited reaction out of us, it’s a good thing to her. It makes her want to do it even more. The truth is, I have a really hard time getting mad at a one year old. It feels crappy and I am not sure she understands yet.

Ted has better luck getting a point across, but it takes a VERY loud voice and usually results in KC bursting into tears and wanting me to pick her up. It’s pretty typical Dad vs. Mom discipline. I remember being much more moved by my Dad’s stern warnings than I ever was with my Mom. My Mom could get us to behave, she just had to work a bit harder for it sometimes. Some Dads just have that thing. That scary, male presence that gets respect quicker than most women can manage.

No offense to the ladies. It is just my personal experience. If you are a scary bitch, and proud of it, my apologies. And good for you!

Ted doesn’t like resorting to this kind of yelling, but at such a young age it is very hard to figure out how to let her know she is doing something wrong. When he pulls out the “big guns”, so to speak, it’s usually for something serious. Like if she’s trying to play with the stove knobs, attempting to take stuff (like knives) from the dishwasher, or if she keeps tugging on curtains that could actually fall on her head.

She’s quite strong. It’s kind of freakish.

We talked about it a little this weekend. Whether it was a good idea…does it work to yell at her like that. Even though it gives me pause when Ted’s voice gets that loud, I do agree with him. There are times when you just have to try. Even if she doesn’t totally understand it yet, she must be starting to discern the difference in our many reactions. Yelling isn’t all we do, however. I like to use actions too.

No, I don’t mean spanking. Although, I don’t really agree with those who think that all spanking is abuse. I was spanked on occasion (gasp!) and I turned out fine. But, that’s a post for another day.

By actions I mean taking stuff away (like the Legos), or putting her in the crib for a few minutes when she won’t stop. I think these things coupled with a loud voice when needed should do it. I hope. As she grows, the “time outs” and the stuff we take away will grow with her.

The funniest discipline moment of the weekend was yesterday. KC likes to mess with the buttons on the stereo and DVR below our TV. Not dangerous, but not cool either. We’ve done a great job of making the living room “kid-proof” so we can just relax. However, there have to be some things that are within reach, but off limits.

Our standard deal when she does this is a loud, “KC, no!”. This never works by itself and certainly not the first time. It’s usually followed by a hand slapping the coffee table loudly to get her attention and then repeating, “No! Not a toy! Play with something else!”. Yesterday she turned toward the table and even before we had the chance to do it ourselves, she slapped her little hand on the table herself and gave us a big grin.

Yep. Might as well be dressed as Bozo the clown. We are apparently that funny. No respect. I guess we’ll just keep trying.

Strange Days

I’m back from my Vegas “Workation”. It was nice. I got a great room…king bed, big tub, big TV. I really enjoyed just having some quiet time for myself, (I finished an entire book!) although I definitely missed KC and Ted. I don’t take many business trips in my line of work. Ted does. He goes away at least 2 or 3 times a year. He even had to go away for a week when KC was only a week old. That was tough for both of us.

I got a taste of how he must feel each time he goes and comes back. KC changes so much in such a short period. Even now, at one year, she gains new habits and new mannerisms quickly. It was strange not seeing her for 4 full days. She looked different to me. She even seems to look at me a little differently. She seems older and a little wiser.

She and Ted had a good time. That made it MUCH easier for me when I called home to check in. It’s hard enough missing her face and not getting to hold her each day. To hear her laughing over the phone, and Ted sounding relaxed made it possible for me to enjoy my few days of freedom.

My boss and I didn’t go out too much. The work days were pretty long and we were both beat by about 6 or 7. It was tough to get over the 3 hour time difference. You wouldn’t think 3 hours was much, but when at 7 pm you feel like it’s bedtime, well, that’s odd. Not to mention a little sad. We did have some amazing food each night, and I managed to take a ride out to the strip to watch the fountains at the Bellagio. Pretty cool.

I am most definitely NOT the kind of tourist Vegas likes. I discovered that I really don’t care to gamble. I put all of $15 into two slot machines and walked away. It seriously felt like tossing money in the trash. Maybe I just need to try something a bit more exciting, like Blackjack. Who knows. I did manage to blow about $100 on gifts in the airport. Now THAT is something I consider fun. Shopping for stuff we don’t need.

Next week I will go to Baltimore for my company’s own conference. Seriously, two business trips away from home in one month. It must be some kind of record for me. This trip’s not as long, but still will probably seem long in terms of KC’s development. Again, Ted will care for her alone for a couple of nights. Again, they will be just fine together…bonding some more. Again, it will be totally weird (and admittitedly nice) for me. Strange days.

I Need a “Workation”

Our visit with GG was great. It was good to sit with my mom again and catch up, drink a glass of wine and just talk. She was, as I expected, totally blown away by how much KC had grown since July. It was fun. To top it off, my husband cooked dinner for us so we could just relax. Nice.

My family is pretty great. I cannot complain. KC is a good kid, even when she’s being cranky. (I’ve said this about her before.) My husband is also good, even when he’s being cranky. He has a pretty good license to “crank” lately too. He’s had ridiculous work hours. Working all week, then Saturday and Sunday too. His job is very physical. It’s been very tiring for him. This weekend was the first in quite some time that he didn’t have to go in at all.

Oh, yeah. Except for the 3:45 am call from his company’s alarm service this morning that he had to drive out to check on only to find it was probably nothing. Yeah. Suckville.

Still, even when we are all home for a weekend together, having a small child means you are up by 7 am (at the latest) and pretty much “on” all day long. No sleeping until you feel like rolling out of bed. No watching TV all day on the couch. We are lucky if we can manage to drink coffee and watch the Today Show for an hour or two without much interruption.

She took NO nap today at all. I foolishly thought this was no big deal until she had a small meltdown when I woke her at about 6:30 pm so I could eat my dinner. She had finally started snoozing in my lap. Hard. She was not pleased to be interrupted. We ended up putting her to bed by 7 pm. I’m pretty sure she’ll wake sometime in the night. Maybe I’m wrong. I hope I’m wrong.

For me, as a mom, work is everyday too. Especially when Ted is working so much. The childcare load doesn’t get distributed so evenly. I make sure she gets to sleep each night after having a bath and a bottle. (Dad helps with baths on occasion, but he generally needs to get to bed early to get up by 5 am.) It’s me who is up until 8-9 pm trying to coax her down so I can finally go do freelance work (or write this blog) before I fall into bed myself at 10ish. It’s also usually me who gets up at 3 am to change a 5 lb. diaper full of pee and then coax her back to sleep again.

It’s me alone in the mornings getting both of us up and dressed. Then it’s off to Grandma’s before heading to work myself, because Dad had to leave much earlier to be to work by 6 am. Much too early for him to take her to Grandma, which is the normal routine and the smartest thing since it’s on his way. But, it’s cool. I don’t resent it. It’s what we need to do during these crazy months. Luckily this is not the schedule all the time.

KC likes to be on the go. She’s a busy kid. She LOVES going outside, where we obviously have to watch her closely. She will play inside for stretches on her own, however, she still needs us to play with her too. Naturally. And we, as parents, should be interacting with her and stimulating her each day. It’s just so tiring sometimes. As a woman who knows how (and loves) to just sit and relax, I have a tough time with it some days. I miss that aspect of life about as much as I love KC. I admit it.

Tomorrow morning I am on a plane to Vegas. It’s a business trip. I’ll be at a trade show and on my feet working for most of the time. My boss (and her boss) both expressed gratitude at my willingness to go at such short notice. I jokingly said, “Are you kidding? It’s like a vacation for me!” And it is. I will get to sleep all night long in a nice clean bed. No 3 am diaper changes. I’ll have coffee in the morning, shower and get ready without little hands tugging at my pant leg. I’ll go out each night for dinner (and drinks) without worrying that KC is eating her food and is happy for long enough that I can eat mine.

It’s a trip for work that will feel like a vacation to a large degree. Of course, I’ll miss KC and will probably have sappy moments of sadness to be so far away. I’ll worry that they are OK without me. She and I have bonded quite a bit in the past few months, so I worry it might be hard for Ted. Especially at night. But, they need this time together to strengthen their special bond. Maybe it won’t be hard at all. Maybe once I’m out of sight she’ll be perfectly content to just hang with Dad. I hope so. It would help me enjoy my “workation” a whole lot more.

Home is anywhere you like to be, and where the people like to see you.

Mama’s home! My Mama that is. KC’s other Grandma. And she’s coming to visit us today. It’s been a while, so I am very excited. GG (that’s her new nickname, short for “Grandma G.”) has been in Minnesota and has not seen KC since July, when she came back here for a family reunion of her side of the tree. I cannot wait to see her face when she gets a gander at how much KC has changed in three months. I mean, I can hardly believe how she’s changed, and I see her every day for God’s sake!

Grandpa G. won’t be with her this trip, but you can bet I’ll be running up the road as soon as I am able to bring KC to him too. Their permanent home, for most of the year, is only 3 hours away. A much easier trip than going up to the land of mosquitos, moose and loons (the bird variety, of course). Although, I do wish I could make it up there more often.

My Mom and Dad go way up to the woods of Northern Minnesota every summer to spend time where my Dad grew up. In a cabin on a lake. It’s as beautiful as you might imagine. Even more so. They leave in June and return just at the beginning of October. They visit his mom (my Grandma) and hang out with my cousin, her son, who is two, and his dad. They also see my other cousin, his wife and their three little girls, (who seem to be growing up at a frightening pace) and other family and friends who go way back.

I regret that I didn’t get KC up there this summer, but we WILL do it next year. She’ll be two, so she should be ready to meet her cousins and take day trips to all the great places I used to love. When I was a kid we vacationed there every summer. It was awesome. Well, at least it was awesome when we finally got there. A car ride for three days is no picnic when you are a kid. Even if you do get to finally stay at the Jellystone camp ground after much begging and pleading on previous trips.

Kids Please Note: Just because it has a picture of a cartoon bear it does not automatically qualify it as fun equal to an amusement park. There are no rides. There is no wonderful, jolly dancing bear parade every night at 7:00. You don’t even get dinner in a picnic basket unless you brought one of your own. It is a RIP-OFF. Kids, remember this please. Your parent’s money doesn’t grow on trees. The KOA is much cheaper and exactly the same.

The Cabin. Such an awesome place to be a kid. My Grandpa Bing built the cabin. He was a carpenter and he also built their house. A house which just happened to sit directly across from Lake Superior. Talk about a great view! There was a beach just full of beautiful smooth rocks over there. The “rock beach” to us kids. There are great views everywhere up north. I recommend this part of MN to anyone for a vacation. Go in summer though. It’s perfect then. I have never been there in winter. Brrrrrrrr. I hear it’s a tad cold. Especially if you are from a more southern location like Virginia.

There are so many great stories to tell KC about those days. Long hikes at Gooseberry Falls. Ice cream and “pop” and homemade cookies. (Grandma knew how to please kids.) My brother and I, and our two cousins swam for hours in the lake — jumping off the dock and off big rocks. We’d fish with worms and minnows for little sunfish and bass. Sometimes we’d venture out in the paddle boat in search of a bigger prize. The biggest one I ever caught was a 2 lb. northern pike. I realize now that’s not a big deal, but it was pretty exciting then.

These are the sort of memories I hope I can give KC. I think we can. Both Ted and I had really good childhood experiences. We are very lucky. I feel like we know what good memories are made of. It will be fun to help KC build all of hers.

Change Is In The Air

So is Autumn, but you sure wouldn’t know it from the temperatures down in NC this past weekend. A tad hotter than I expected. Especially for us fair, Irish-Scandinavian broads with no sunscreen. (Bad Mommy.) Great weather allowed us to be outdoors all weekend. We had a blast with our friends, and did not get too sunburned in the end. We hit a local attraction where the kids were able to, among other things, take a hayride and pick their own pumpkins. KC ended up with a very small one. Not really by her own choice. More so Mama could carry it, her and the over-sized purse that doubles as a diaper bag these days.

I was impressed with KC this weekend. A four hour road trip (each way) did not phase her in the least. She’s still at an age where she sleeps most of the time and adapts quickly. Faced with meeting two new friends, being in a new house for 48 hours, sleeping in a portable crib and getting toted around in car seats, strollers and the like, she was absolutely delightful. She truly had fun.

Ok, maybe a couple of brief tantrums when I stopped her from climbing things, or drooling too much on my friend’s kitchen utensils. No one’s perfect.

It helped that my BFF is an amazing hostess and mom. Her two girls are wonderful. They are smart, funny and sassy. Just like their mom. She might argue that they are a bit TOO smart and sassy sometimes. At 4 and 6 some attitude is to be expected. It was an interesting glimpse of what’s to come with KC. Even in the most willful and stubborn moments you see it. The beauty of their intelligence and individuality. You cannot deny it, no matter the behavior of the moment. Kids are very smart. Scary smart.

KC is definitely working on a “tude” of her own these days. Despite all the happy smiles and good behavior, a new phase has started for her as she creeps up on 13 months old. I can feel it coming. She knows so much more now, and we are on the cusp. The words may still elude her, but she knows what is happening around her. She knows what she wants. It’s only a matter of time before she really figues out that she’s got power in that “tude”. And she can use it.

Here’s a cute pic to get you into the upcoming holiday spirit. You will notice the Peanuts-style hat KC is sporting. It’s actually mine. I was trying very hard to keep that bald noggin covered up!

So many pumpkins...hard to choose one.

Taking It On The Road

KC and I are hitting the road today. Going to visit my BFF in North Carolina. Just like Thelma and Louise, except not really. Because, well, we aren’t looking for men (unless we need someone to carry stuff from the car) and hopefully we won’t be driving off any cliffs. But, it’s definitely a girl’s weekend! My BFF is a mom too and her girls (4 and 6) are really excited to see KC.

So, I may not be online again until next week. Got the bags packed, the snacks and sippy cups and assorted other crap. Good lord. I thought I required a lot of stuff. KC might have me beat! Although, she only needs one pair of shoes, while I on the other hand, require three. Maybe it’s a tie.