The bus driver who honked at the other cars to get them to stop while Bear and I were crossing the street today, so that we did not get hit when it was our turn to cross
That Baby Bear holds my hand EVERY TIME when we cross the street, 99% of the time without fighting
The sound a cow makes
Fresh peaches from the market
Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything, given to me by my sister, for whom I am also eternally grateful
The DC Public Library website, which has recently become much more user-friendly. Also the librarians there, who are abnormally and sometimes unsettlingly friendly and helpful, and
Otter Pops.
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
15 August 2011
18 June 2011
What to Expect
I've been reading a lot of toddler books lately, which has been really helpful in understanding how my various kids operate. I don't think I mentioned it, but around the time of my last blog post (I'm delinquent, I know), I looked at BiebzBear and told him "You're not eating any more baby food when I'm here," and he hasn't. It makes things a little more difficult, of course, because damn, those pouches are super convenient when he gets hungry and we're out. Also, it's basically his only source of vegetables and fruits. So, that's a thing we're working on together. We've been trying lots of new things when we go out, which is great. Last week we had a ham-and-scallion scone, and also a peach smoothie, and a little bit of turkey sammich.
The sleep thing is more of an issue than ever. He's been taking bottles of just water to go down for the past month or so, but getting him to go to sleep is almost impossible some days. Even if he is 150% exhausted (like he was on Wednesday, when we went to the Postal Museum, and then took the metro back, and then I got him out of the stroller and he walked the mile from the metro station home), if he knows his mom is home, he stands there in the middle of the crib crying and throwing out his blanket and screaming and falling asleep standing up and then crying more. For hours. And yet, on Tuesdays, when his mom isn't home, he lies down in the crib, and falls asleep within ten minutes. This past week on the screaming days, I gave up after an hour each day, dragged him to sit with me in the rocking chair to look at books, and he was asleep in three minutes. And I have to stay there with him until he falls asleep, because that's what his parents want, even though he screams whether I'm in the room or not.
So:
Crib not comfortable enough?
Hears his mom, who seems to pick the best time for her to noisily prepare her lunch in the kitchen right when I am putting him down, and knows if he cries long enough she'll come in?
Should have been sleep trained and doesn't know how to comfort himself?
Running around is too exciting and now he thinks he doesn't need to nap anymore?
Going down for a nap just a little too late and missing the "window of opportunity?"
All of the above?
Despite the massive battles that are naptime, Bear has become a complete angel all other times, especially when he is well-rested after a nap (SURPRISE). We've been eating outside at Peregrine once a week for a while, which has been great for getting him to try new foods. The other day when we were leaving Safeway, I unbuckled his stroller belt and asked if he wanted to walk home. and he trotted along calmly next to me and held my hand when he felt like it, and of course when we crossed the street, and didn't run in traffic and didn't dawdle all that much at all.
A couple weeks ago when we were getting ready to go out to the playground, I told him that I couldn't carry him up the stairs to go out the front door, because I had to carry the stroller and the stroller is very heavy. So, I would take the stroller up the stairs and then come back and help him walk. I got to the top of the stairs and Bear was halfway up behind me, and since then he's been doing the stairs himself, both up and down. Then the other day, we were leaving for a walk at the same time his mom was leaving for errands, and she said "We've been working on not carrying him up the stairs." and I said, "Oh. Huh. He's been doing the stairs for weeks." and then of course he refused to walk up them because he KNEW since he mom was there she'd carry him, which she eventually did.
I read this book recently called the No Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers, which by the way is a huge bunch of bullshit, I feel, but the author mentioned that scientists say that most babies have the ability to put themselves to sleep by six months of age. She then said that since the majority of parents put their children to sleep up until the school years, it is perfectly normal and okay. She also said that kids all learn to walk and talk at different ages, so it's normal for kids to learn to put themselves to sleep at different ages. Two things with which I have major problems:
1) Most kids learn to walk around one year, give or take a few months. Most kids have a certain number of words and speaking skills by around their second birthday. Pediatricians use these milestones as indicators of healthy growth and development. So saying that a 5 year old in kindergarten that doesn't know how to put herself to sleep is just "falling in the normal spectrum of development, just like walking and talking" is not the same.
2) It's absolute nonsense to compare sleeping to walking and talking, if you're also saying that it's normal for parents to be putting their child to sleep long after pediatricians agree the child has the ability to put itself to sleep. Once a baby can walk, do the parents prevent him from walking? Once a toddler has the ability to talk, do the parents tell her she is not allowed to talk? It's not likely. So, once a child has the ability to put itself to sleep, why not let it?! I find it terribly frustrating.
Citations forthcoming. I let Bear's mom borrow the book and I have to get it back from her so I can return it to the library. Some of the stuff is really interesting, like the idea of making a bedtime chart, or a bedtime story with your child as the main character ("First Susie brushes her teeth! Then she gets her jammies on. Then she reads a story with Daddy, and then she gets in bed, closes her eyes, and goes to sleep until morning."), but not necessarily applicable to the younger toddler. But, a whole lot of her logic is complete garbage.
Anyway, this is all just a fancy way of saying I think that kids should be given the treatment that corresponds with their age, treatment that includes respecting autonomy, and also having certain expectations about actions (cleaning up toys, feeding self, walking instead of carrying). Having Bear an average of 4 times a week now and working really hard on those things has really helped him be better behaved and happier, and I'm much less frustrated, too. Easy for me to do all these things, I get to go home at the end of a day to a house filled with sharp table corners, gate-free stairs, and under-sink cabinets that are full of chemicals and have no locks on the doors.
The sleep thing is more of an issue than ever. He's been taking bottles of just water to go down for the past month or so, but getting him to go to sleep is almost impossible some days. Even if he is 150% exhausted (like he was on Wednesday, when we went to the Postal Museum, and then took the metro back, and then I got him out of the stroller and he walked the mile from the metro station home), if he knows his mom is home, he stands there in the middle of the crib crying and throwing out his blanket and screaming and falling asleep standing up and then crying more. For hours. And yet, on Tuesdays, when his mom isn't home, he lies down in the crib, and falls asleep within ten minutes. This past week on the screaming days, I gave up after an hour each day, dragged him to sit with me in the rocking chair to look at books, and he was asleep in three minutes. And I have to stay there with him until he falls asleep, because that's what his parents want, even though he screams whether I'm in the room or not.
So:
Crib not comfortable enough?
Hears his mom, who seems to pick the best time for her to noisily prepare her lunch in the kitchen right when I am putting him down, and knows if he cries long enough she'll come in?
Should have been sleep trained and doesn't know how to comfort himself?
Running around is too exciting and now he thinks he doesn't need to nap anymore?
Going down for a nap just a little too late and missing the "window of opportunity?"
All of the above?
Despite the massive battles that are naptime, Bear has become a complete angel all other times, especially when he is well-rested after a nap (SURPRISE). We've been eating outside at Peregrine once a week for a while, which has been great for getting him to try new foods. The other day when we were leaving Safeway, I unbuckled his stroller belt and asked if he wanted to walk home. and he trotted along calmly next to me and held my hand when he felt like it, and of course when we crossed the street, and didn't run in traffic and didn't dawdle all that much at all.
A couple weeks ago when we were getting ready to go out to the playground, I told him that I couldn't carry him up the stairs to go out the front door, because I had to carry the stroller and the stroller is very heavy. So, I would take the stroller up the stairs and then come back and help him walk. I got to the top of the stairs and Bear was halfway up behind me, and since then he's been doing the stairs himself, both up and down. Then the other day, we were leaving for a walk at the same time his mom was leaving for errands, and she said "We've been working on not carrying him up the stairs." and I said, "Oh. Huh. He's been doing the stairs for weeks." and then of course he refused to walk up them because he KNEW since he mom was there she'd carry him, which she eventually did.
I read this book recently called the No Cry Sleep Solution for Toddlers and Preschoolers, which by the way is a huge bunch of bullshit, I feel, but the author mentioned that scientists say that most babies have the ability to put themselves to sleep by six months of age. She then said that since the majority of parents put their children to sleep up until the school years, it is perfectly normal and okay. She also said that kids all learn to walk and talk at different ages, so it's normal for kids to learn to put themselves to sleep at different ages. Two things with which I have major problems:
1) Most kids learn to walk around one year, give or take a few months. Most kids have a certain number of words and speaking skills by around their second birthday. Pediatricians use these milestones as indicators of healthy growth and development. So saying that a 5 year old in kindergarten that doesn't know how to put herself to sleep is just "falling in the normal spectrum of development, just like walking and talking" is not the same.
2) It's absolute nonsense to compare sleeping to walking and talking, if you're also saying that it's normal for parents to be putting their child to sleep long after pediatricians agree the child has the ability to put itself to sleep. Once a baby can walk, do the parents prevent him from walking? Once a toddler has the ability to talk, do the parents tell her she is not allowed to talk? It's not likely. So, once a child has the ability to put itself to sleep, why not let it?! I find it terribly frustrating.
Citations forthcoming. I let Bear's mom borrow the book and I have to get it back from her so I can return it to the library. Some of the stuff is really interesting, like the idea of making a bedtime chart, or a bedtime story with your child as the main character ("First Susie brushes her teeth! Then she gets her jammies on. Then she reads a story with Daddy, and then she gets in bed, closes her eyes, and goes to sleep until morning."), but not necessarily applicable to the younger toddler. But, a whole lot of her logic is complete garbage.
Anyway, this is all just a fancy way of saying I think that kids should be given the treatment that corresponds with their age, treatment that includes respecting autonomy, and also having certain expectations about actions (cleaning up toys, feeding self, walking instead of carrying). Having Bear an average of 4 times a week now and working really hard on those things has really helped him be better behaved and happier, and I'm much less frustrated, too. Easy for me to do all these things, I get to go home at the end of a day to a house filled with sharp table corners, gate-free stairs, and under-sink cabinets that are full of chemicals and have no locks on the doors.
25 April 2011
Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!
So, seeing as how Lent is over, it's time to analyze how LP'oh11 went! The goal was to exercise at least a little bit every day, but since Lent doesn't include Sundays, that really means 6 days a week. If you count walking at least half a mile, which I think is legitimate, I probably averaged about 5 days a week, so that's pretty good!
I'm not going to lie, HealthMonth is probably the only reason I really did much of anything this month. It's amazing how motivated I am to do something just to get points that don't mean anything at all. It also helps me understand the appeal of 4square, I think. when I questioned its purpose one night about 11 months ago, someone told me "BUT YOU GET POINTS!" which I thought was dumb at the time, but now all I want is points points and fruits fruits.
Giant thunderstorm last night. The kind that sets off car alarms and pours down an Oregon week's worth of rain in 15 minutes.
Speaking of Oregon, in 3 weeks (so soon!) I am going there for 9 days. I am really getting excited even though it is going to be so chaotic - I don't really have anyone to take care of my cats, since last time I went home and left them in the care of my roommates, I came back a week later and they had no water, too much food, and their litterbox hadn't been cleaned the whole time I was gone. so I guess I might try to board them but that will be so expensive, on top of the $900 I am paying off on my credit card for the plane tickets.
For some reason I am really excited to go to Astoria this time. I am usually not at all excited because I don't really know anyone there anymore, but all I want to do is go see Peter Iredale and walk around in the rain and pick up earthworms and maybe even sneak out to Camp Kiwanilong and just kind of stare longingly at the locked gate. I was watching over Capital R's shoulder the other day while he was watching a YouTube about where is Chunk from the Goonies now (he's an entertainment lawyer because he couldn't act anymore once he grew up and got hot) and they of course showed clips of the Goonies and I got whiny looking at all the fog and trees.
Today is hot and muggy and started off miserably, but BiebzBear and I went to Peregrine and got a yummy brioche roll to share and a delicious latte for not sharing. Then we went to the park which I was dreading because in recent times Bear has been known to throw himself bodily into the mud, of which there is plenty, post-thunderstorm. But he did such a good job! This time all he wanted to do was go up and down the stairs on the play structure and play with the cars that some other kids brought, and he was fantastic at sharing and gave the cars back when I said it was time to go. Also he is starting to talk! He says "Haaww" when I am complaining about how hot it is, and I think he is determining when to say "more" versus when to say "again" and I swear I've heard him say "all done" and "blue" and "thank you." He does say "again" when he wants to read a book, I think for him it kind of means "please do this right now!" as well as "please do this one more time right now!" Anyway him talking is going to start making my life easier, I think.
I had the three horsechildren of the apocalypse for several hours on Friday, and while Captain Bananio napped, Zannah and Prince Phillip watched Sleeping Beauty so for a little bit it was just like old times. Captain Bananio, while the same age as Stellina, is much less comprehensible, but his clearest complete sentence is "HE PUNCHED ME" which I think says something about being the youngest of three.
I've just finished re-reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, but haven't yet re-started Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, so I am currently nursing a sore spot in my heart over the events on the astronomy tower.
I'm not going to lie, HealthMonth is probably the only reason I really did much of anything this month. It's amazing how motivated I am to do something just to get points that don't mean anything at all. It also helps me understand the appeal of 4square, I think. when I questioned its purpose one night about 11 months ago, someone told me "BUT YOU GET POINTS!" which I thought was dumb at the time, but now all I want is points points and fruits fruits.
Giant thunderstorm last night. The kind that sets off car alarms and pours down an Oregon week's worth of rain in 15 minutes.
Speaking of Oregon, in 3 weeks (so soon!) I am going there for 9 days. I am really getting excited even though it is going to be so chaotic - I don't really have anyone to take care of my cats, since last time I went home and left them in the care of my roommates, I came back a week later and they had no water, too much food, and their litterbox hadn't been cleaned the whole time I was gone. so I guess I might try to board them but that will be so expensive, on top of the $900 I am paying off on my credit card for the plane tickets.
For some reason I am really excited to go to Astoria this time. I am usually not at all excited because I don't really know anyone there anymore, but all I want to do is go see Peter Iredale and walk around in the rain and pick up earthworms and maybe even sneak out to Camp Kiwanilong and just kind of stare longingly at the locked gate. I was watching over Capital R's shoulder the other day while he was watching a YouTube about where is Chunk from the Goonies now (he's an entertainment lawyer because he couldn't act anymore once he grew up and got hot) and they of course showed clips of the Goonies and I got whiny looking at all the fog and trees.
Today is hot and muggy and started off miserably, but BiebzBear and I went to Peregrine and got a yummy brioche roll to share and a delicious latte for not sharing. Then we went to the park which I was dreading because in recent times Bear has been known to throw himself bodily into the mud, of which there is plenty, post-thunderstorm. But he did such a good job! This time all he wanted to do was go up and down the stairs on the play structure and play with the cars that some other kids brought, and he was fantastic at sharing and gave the cars back when I said it was time to go. Also he is starting to talk! He says "Haaww" when I am complaining about how hot it is, and I think he is determining when to say "more" versus when to say "again" and I swear I've heard him say "all done" and "blue" and "thank you." He does say "again" when he wants to read a book, I think for him it kind of means "please do this right now!" as well as "please do this one more time right now!" Anyway him talking is going to start making my life easier, I think.
I had the three horsechildren of the apocalypse for several hours on Friday, and while Captain Bananio napped, Zannah and Prince Phillip watched Sleeping Beauty so for a little bit it was just like old times. Captain Bananio, while the same age as Stellina, is much less comprehensible, but his clearest complete sentence is "HE PUNCHED ME" which I think says something about being the youngest of three.
I've just finished re-reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, but haven't yet re-started Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, so I am currently nursing a sore spot in my heart over the events on the astronomy tower.
29 March 2011
The Writing on the Wall
The other day I gave a $40 donation to Planned Parenthood! did you??
LP'oh11 is not going terribly well lately. It went from nice spring to super cold again, and snowed a bit over the weekend, and supposed to snow again tomorrow. It is difficult to do much of anything. I! Hate! Cold!
Bear is getting faster at learning stuff. He is identifying pictures in books and stuff (Where's the banana?? where's the dog!), so that is good. he makes this funny "huh??" sound when you ask him something, as though he were an old man hard of hearing. But last week BAM six new teeth, so he looks a little less like an old man, at least.
I am reading all the Harry Potters over again, which is actually pretty great because it means I get to go to the library! The library is great. I went to the Northeast branch for the first time yesterday, and it seemed nice, I guess! I just got my book on hold, put another book on hold, and did my checking out, so I didn't really look around. I wanted to go home. It was cold and I wanted to read my book!
I was thinking about taking Biebzbear to the library, as it is very near his house, but he is SO loud, with the screaming and the noises, and the way he asks to read a book again, which sounds remarkably like the word "again," but with out the first syllable, and it's screamed at the top of his lungs. So, I think we'll wait on the library. I'm pretty sick of the same books over and over, though, so I might just bring him books from the library.
LIBRARY! YAY!
I want to see the cherry blossoms but I hate the tourists. They suck suck suck. I am devising a plan to go at dawn one of the days soon, but it is So Cold, and that is So Early, but I Really Hate The Tourists, so we will see what party wins the cherry blossom fight. First round will be Seeing Cherry Blossoms vs. Not Seeing Cherry Blossoms. If the former wins, then it will be a battle of Hatred of Cold and Early vs. Hatred of Tourists. aaaaaand... FIGHT!
LP'oh11 is not going terribly well lately. It went from nice spring to super cold again, and snowed a bit over the weekend, and supposed to snow again tomorrow. It is difficult to do much of anything. I! Hate! Cold!
Bear is getting faster at learning stuff. He is identifying pictures in books and stuff (Where's the banana?? where's the dog!), so that is good. he makes this funny "huh??" sound when you ask him something, as though he were an old man hard of hearing. But last week BAM six new teeth, so he looks a little less like an old man, at least.
I am reading all the Harry Potters over again, which is actually pretty great because it means I get to go to the library! The library is great. I went to the Northeast branch for the first time yesterday, and it seemed nice, I guess! I just got my book on hold, put another book on hold, and did my checking out, so I didn't really look around. I wanted to go home. It was cold and I wanted to read my book!
I was thinking about taking Biebzbear to the library, as it is very near his house, but he is SO loud, with the screaming and the noises, and the way he asks to read a book again, which sounds remarkably like the word "again," but with out the first syllable, and it's screamed at the top of his lungs. So, I think we'll wait on the library. I'm pretty sick of the same books over and over, though, so I might just bring him books from the library.
LIBRARY! YAY!
I want to see the cherry blossoms but I hate the tourists. They suck suck suck. I am devising a plan to go at dawn one of the days soon, but it is So Cold, and that is So Early, but I Really Hate The Tourists, so we will see what party wins the cherry blossom fight. First round will be Seeing Cherry Blossoms vs. Not Seeing Cherry Blossoms. If the former wins, then it will be a battle of Hatred of Cold and Early vs. Hatred of Tourists. aaaaaand... FIGHT!
22 March 2011
Nolite te bastardes carborundorum*
It is spring! My handsome man cat is allowed outside now, with adult supervision. Today and yesterday he spent a bunch of time fiercely hunting stalks of grass and then triumphantly devoured his prey. He then helped me select some excellent pieces to harvest and bring inside for his sister, and creepily watched her while she nommed them all gone.
Yesterday I made these tasty puffs! They are very dense and there is quite a bit of shortening in them, but they are super yummy. I fully intend to mess with the recipe to make them lighter and less full-of-shortening.
My phone is acting stupid again, though a few weeks ago I finally updated my OS, in hopes that would resolve all of its freezing issues. It is even worse now. And of course because I am not the account holder at AT&T, I am not authorized to do anything on the phone with them. NOTHING. but having the account holder call will do no good, because how is he supposed to know what's wrong with my phone? Stupid stupid.
Here is a photo of the baby lions at the zoo.
*"Don't let the bastards grind you down," from Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale
Yesterday I made these tasty puffs! They are very dense and there is quite a bit of shortening in them, but they are super yummy. I fully intend to mess with the recipe to make them lighter and less full-of-shortening.
My phone is acting stupid again, though a few weeks ago I finally updated my OS, in hopes that would resolve all of its freezing issues. It is even worse now. And of course because I am not the account holder at AT&T, I am not authorized to do anything on the phone with them. NOTHING. but having the account holder call will do no good, because how is he supposed to know what's wrong with my phone? Stupid stupid.
Here is a photo of the baby lions at the zoo.
*"Don't let the bastards grind you down," from Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale
14 March 2010
Fire it up
This is a very important follow-up to viewing the "Telephone" video, which you cannot possibly have avoided by now. I was gettin mah hurrs did yesterday morning and convinced my stylist (who I love to death zomg) that she needed to go google it up as soon as she was done for the day. Anyway, read that Feministe post, it is hilarious.
So, I'm on the plane (literally, right now, on the plane, wifi for free. I knew AirTran was a good idea, somehow??) and I was reading my New Orleans guidebook from Lonely Planet, and I turned to a page and saw a dude that I recognize! He is really only someone that I know of, so that's all well and good.
Lindsey accidentally called me this morning at about 1:30(??), and apparently I was having a lucid dream about a really strange- and scary-looking bug, because the first thing I said to her was "man you're right, that bug is fucking weird!" I don't think she heard me because it was an accidental dial, but I hope she did. And also, even though at that point I woke up enough to realize that the bug wasn't real, I still moved to the other side of the bed because I was jeeshed out.
I have had little sleep.
So, I'm on the plane (literally, right now, on the plane, wifi for free. I knew AirTran was a good idea, somehow??) and I was reading my New Orleans guidebook from Lonely Planet, and I turned to a page and saw a dude that I recognize! He is really only someone that I know of, so that's all well and good.
Lindsey accidentally called me this morning at about 1:30(??), and apparently I was having a lucid dream about a really strange- and scary-looking bug, because the first thing I said to her was "man you're right, that bug is fucking weird!" I don't think she heard me because it was an accidental dial, but I hope she did. And also, even though at that point I woke up enough to realize that the bug wasn't real, I still moved to the other side of the bed because I was jeeshed out.
I have had little sleep.
14 February 2010
ain't fair, you know
Statehood Day #151:
x 1098091283091810. When did Train get good?
Jake's Recipe for Falker Satherhood.
Stellaluna board book! I can't let Stellina exist any longer with this book in her possession. Especially since she'll probably know how to read by the time she turns 2, she's so wicked smart.
New Orleans guidebook. (heyyyy ladies I have bought us a guidebook)
DONUTS.
A single lol.
Wednesday plans to conquer tacos. and to pick up MARC tickets.
eta: I just ordered three new Moleskines! giftcards to evil giant chain bookstores are awesome when I don't have to save them for textbooks.
eta II: An excellent postcard to add to my collection! Someday I will get to send someone awesome some really cool postcards.
All these things have happened today.
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