Baby Girl Month 9

Month 9, to my girl,

Crazy month, my friend. Crazy. I feel like 30 days ago was a lifetime. In the beginning of your 9th month you spent time with your father for his birthday, and saw extended family. You came home with sunburnt toes, so I think you had a great time!
You were a sicky sicker a lot this month, and it prompted us to make an appt for an ENT. More on THAT later.
You got to play with your Aunt Nickey, who has MISSED you! I am supposed to be teaching you patty-cake so she can play it with you next time. Note: remind me to teach that to you.
We had quite a few weeks of daycare/home/bed, or daycare/Dad’s/home/bed and not much else – neither one of us was feeling quite like ourselves and therefore neither one was sleeping well. I went a record 10 days straight without sleep (I exaggerate – I got about 1 hour a night…mer…) and YES, I thought I was gonna lose it. At times. Most of the time you and I would just turn on the lights, get out some toys, and play with our animals and rattles at 3 am til you got drowsy enough to at least lay quietly and let me doze a bit. I do know that SOMEDAY you will be sleeping better. The hope of this day is what helps me not to trade you in for a new model. That and sloppy morning kisses.
You have begun talking more lately, other than the usual DaDas – you now say Momma, Dada, Duck, Duckie, Bunny, Hey, Dead, and Guy. Yesterday you learned the N sound, and so all night was NoNoNoNoNo and NaNaNaNa. Funny, for now!
You also started walking Very Unexpectedly. One night I propped you up, holding the couch, and you turned and walked 2 steps to the table. Then, the next night, you walked again at Sabrina’s by TURNING AROUND and walking 2 steps. I think this is pretty cool – but the pediatrician warned this morning that, for the sake of my sanity, I might want to squash your hopes of walking just yet – you will get hurt getting into too much stuff! Haha, we’ll see.
Speaking of, almost every day I get reports from daycare that read, “Mommy, Today I had lots of fun. I had said fun by getting into trouble, pulling stuff out of drawers, wreaking havoc when no one was looking, waking up my friends for funsies, biting on cue, and crying during naptime. XXXOOO, your daughter” (What daycare doesn’t know is that every day I whisper “good for you’ upon hearing this. That’s my little badass.)
My favorite-est part of the past month has been bathtime. I started bathing you almost every night in the kitchen sink, lots of bubbles, lots of duckies, a couple bowls, some spoons, 2 washcloths, and your little naked hineybumps. You quickly caught on to SPLASHING! And THOWING WATER! And MESSYMESS! I end these baths soaking wet myself and you never seem to want to get out, even when the water’s turned cold. I love how much fun you have.
So, ENT. It must be said. Sucked! It took them .2 seconds to decide you need tubes, and then we spent the rest of the day shuttling between offices for a hearing test, evaluations, etc. You surgery is scheduled for this month and I am nervous. A lot. I’m sure you’ll do fine, though, as all badasses do.
I have been going through a lot of stuff in my own life this month, and in my minutely small group of confidants I am told things like, “Think of your daughter. Then you won’t feel sad or scared or terrified or depressed.” Unfortunately, you are exactly why I feel these things – fears simply for myself don’t register on the radar anymore. Fears that involve picturing your life with me in a way that leaves you in any way shortchanged make my hands seizure and I start to sweat and I can’t breathe and JUST BREATHE EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE. Everything HAS to be fine, because I look at your face and I see me, not the me that has flaws and is unfinished and has negativity and is fouldterribleHUMAN. I see perfect-me – all that I had to make you was made with purity and love and heart and hope (and juice bucket!), and I cannot disappoint that. And I will do everything in my power to make your life with me as wonderful and as complete as I can. EVERYTHING IN MY POWER.

Oh, and did I mention that you’ve been adorable-er than ever? I LOVE your scraped-up knees! You’ve been awesome.

love, momma

101 in 1001

101 Things in 101 Days

Start Date: March 12, 2008

Finish Date: December 8, 2010

Health/Food
1. Steam and eat 1 vegetable every day for a week.
2. try sushi at least 3 times in 1 year (3/13/08 JL1 Lunch: California roll and assorted sushi pieces)
3. Eat salmon at least 3 times in 6 months
4. Take at least 2 Pilates instructions
5. Run 1 mile easily
6. Gain noticeable muscle tone in arms and legs
7. Go entire month without eating out
8. do 30 crunches per day for 2 weeks
9. drink nothing but water for 1 week
10. learn 3 new slow cooker recipes and make them

Giving Back
11. Visit at least 25 doors for AHA
12. visit at least 5 businesses for the AHA

Baby
13. Zoo
14. teach sign language
15. arrange a play date with a daycare mom
16. hand make a costume
17. memorize 5 poems and recite to Baby

Things to Do Near Home
18. American Museum of Natural History
19. Metropolitan Museum of Art
20. Museum of Modern Art
21. National Museum of the American Indian
22. Guggenheim Museum
23. Broadway
24. Yankees
25. first Thursday or other night
26. get a new library card

Things to Do at Home
27. watch all the Godfathers
28. Watch Grey Gardens
29. Watch Casablanca
30. Watch the Exorcist
31. Sell off everything in my “Ebay pile”
32. Learn to make 10 nutritious family dinners
33. read all of Sherman Alexie
34. Read all of Sears baby Book(5/4/08)
35. Read entire Neruda book
36. Do 1 load of laundry a week where I finish every step in same day for a month
37. need new goal

Travel
38. Road trip by myself or with only grownups!
39. Visit one of the following: New Mexico/Arizona/Texas or California/Oregon/Washington

Taking Care of Myself
40. Wear a skirt/dress every day for a week
41. Wear fingernail polish for a week (5/5, 5/6, 5/7, 5/8 )
42. Wear makeup every day for a week (3/17/08-3/21/08)
43. NEW GOAL
44. personal
45. shower every day for 2 weeks
46. brush hair every other day for 2 weeks
47. go to the dermatologist in 2008
48. go to the dentist in 2008 (scheduled 5/16/08)
49. take a multivitamin every day for a month
50. pluck my eyebrows once a week for a month
51. floss every day for a month

Be Adventurous and/or Travel Outside my Comfort Zone
52. skydive
53. ski
54. Ask a new acquaintance to be friends
55. ride a motorcycle
56. Be an extra in a film
57. Go dancing
58. Go on a date in 2008
59. embarrassing
60. gamble! Be willing to lose a couple hundred dollars

Learn New Things
61. Touch typing
62. guitar lessons 12 weeks
63. go back to school for 1 class if unsubsidized in 2008, every semester if subsidized for year
64. get CPR certified
65. Learn all the countries in a continent per month
66. Learn at least 50 ASL signs
67. learn to drive stick shift
68. learn something involving basic plumbing

Finance and Home
69. Get into aff housing
70. Pay off 10% of mortgage
71. write a will
72. get life insurance
73. get a passport
74. NEW GOAL
75. Increase 401k contribution

Work
76. Get a raise
77. finish “catch-up” work 100%
78. go 3 days without goofing off at work (- quick convo with Jamie for coffee!)

Arts and Crafts
79. Make a yearly photo book of A-Team
80. Finish Baby book
81. make myself that thing
82. make someone that thing

Friendships
83. See 1 “long distance” friend once a month (3/22 C/M)(4/22 N) (5/17 C)
84. personal

Weekly and Monthly Goals
85. NEW GOAL
86. Work out 3 times a week for 1 month
87. 1 week without TV (every week in Mom’s house!)
88. Watch the evening news through every day for a week
89. Look up and use a new word every day for 1 month
90. go to 3 concerts in 1 year
91. read one of my books each month for a year
92. listen to 1 new album a month I think I might like
93. complete house clean once a week for 2 months

Misc
94. Be without anger towards Husband
95. Read the Bible
96. get a postcard published on Postsecret
97. Don’t buy a new book until I have read 5 of my own
98. get a tattoo?
99. register to vote under new name in my county
100. create an up-to-date password/bill list

Last but not least

101. Make a new list of 101 Things by the time my 1001 days are done

remind me to tell people about my blog. or delete it.

Things to Copyright:

“Jewish Church” and "Church-sque" - I bet it would make Whitey feel less antsy around the not-whites.

Rule #1 Don't start a blog and then have no time to write in it.

Rule #2 Figure the hell out what you are going to NAME your PEOPLE. A-Cus I am going to attempt NOT to get sued over this shit.

The only OBVIOUS choice was for The Husband's Main Mistress. She will be Rummy McPegLeg Von Drunkypants. Also known as Rummy. The Husband still needs a name. Cocksucker comes to mind. So does Asshole. Not DESCRIPTIVE enough.

Baby also needs a pseudo. Think, people - you can't expect me to be creative AND hit publish, now can you?

Riches Wishes

Realization:

If I won the lottery, I'd buy $10,000 worth of Forever Stamps, just to show 'em.