TILTW: 2 week edition

Last week I skipped out on TILTW so I'll combine the two... not that there's a heck of a whole lot going on or anything. Let's get on with it.

* We turned Lovie forward facing a couple weeks back and it's been really awesome. She talks non-stop (nothing new), she sings at the top of her lungs (so damn cute), it's so much easier getting her in and out of the car...

* Got an awesome shade for her window. We've gone this long without- can you believe it?  But there's been times when the sun just lays on her so I had to do something. This shade kicks ALL sorts of ass.

* Along with the shade, we ordered a water faucet extender thingie that also kicks so much ass. Lovie adores washing her hands and brushing her teeth now because she can "DO IT ALL BY MYSELF!"

* Brushing teeth has finally become just a normal thing to do. I used to have to lay her down on the floor and brush her teeth for her but now we just brush our teeth together. It's freaking adorable. I ask her to HELP ME and get my tooth brush and toothpaste and she enthusiastically does, then brushes alongside me. Someday she may even learn how to spit! ;)

* This little chica adores doing things on her own. She helps get the milk out, she takes off her clothes and puts them in the hamper, she puts her shoes away, she helps dust, she helps with laundry, etc, etc. I can't wait till she does dishes and her own laundry!! ;)

* I need to stop saying "Okay?" when I need her to do something. YES: It's time to get going now; say good-bye to Daddy. NO: It's time to go, Okay? Give dad a hug and kiss, Okay?

* I still abhor hot weather.

* I cannot freaking BELIEVE tomorrow is SEPTEMBER!

Confidence

Here's the thing: I'm not a perfect person by any shape of the imagination. Never have been, never will be. And that's OK. That's a part of who I am. But I'm also not a person who really cares much about what other people think or say or do. I mean, of course I care, especially when it's affecting me or mine, but if I can't change something, I don't really put much energy into it. (It's taken me an insane amount of time to truly live my life like this because, again, I'm not, nor have I ever been, perfect.)

 

That all said and done, I've never been one to really worry about my Parenting.

 

Again, I'm not a perfect person and this holds true in every single aspect of my life including Parenting. But just because I'm not perfect at it, doesn't mean I can't rock it. And frankly...

 

I'm a Rockstar Parent.

 

I love being a Mama. I love it with everything I have, everything I am. The moment she was placed into my arms, I knew that parenting was what I was meant to do in my life.

 

And I kick ass at it.

 

I'm not saying I know everything about Parenting. It doesn't mean I'm some expert. It doesn't mean I don't read books and blogs and articles and comments on Parenting. It doesn't mean I can't afford to learn more about Parenting.

 

But it does mean that while I don't really give a shit what the Joneses are doing, I do care about what kind of parent I am- and that's a damn good one with the confidence to say so out loud.

1.) Share something your child taught YOU about parenting.

WW: Scenes from the zoo

(i find it quite amusing that my hair matches the penguin. also, Lovie's wearing two different dresses cuz she kinda sorta peed thru the yellow-green one.)

Tales of the Spoiled one.

Lovie was never the snuggling type of baby. I mean, she loved being held when she was itty bitty but once she got a taste of rolling around at about 3 months old, she seemed to always be super content doing her own thing.

Sitting by herself at 5 months was the bee's knees of course... until she started crawling just before 7 months. Then she never sat still and rarely sought comfort in a lap or someone's arms.

It wasn't till she was about 13 months old- after walking for several months- when Lovie finally started to slow down a little bit. All of a sudden she seemed to love to snuggle- especially when she was tired or sick.

I ate it up.

I still eat it up today even though she's inching her way toward THREE (just four months and one day, people!).

Every single time we're together, she finds her way on top of me.

 

 

Even if Taye and I are home at the same time and sitting on the couch or if we have guests, mine is the lap she always chooses.

 

She jumps on me, she lays on me, she sits on top of me, she sits right next to me, she slides down my legs, she wraps her arms around me, she looks me in the eyes when she tells me something, she smiles at me, she laughs with me...

 

"Sometimes I wonder if she's too attached," I tell my husband.

 

"She loves you," he answers, looking down at his cell phone.

 

"Well, yeah, I know that and I'm really not complaining."  And I'm not. Really, I'm not.

 

She doesn't freak out (much and/or usually) when I leave her at school. She leaps into my arms most days when I pick her up. She just really seems to like to be around me as much as I love to be around her.

And I'm so damn grateful for that.

 

But then my dad will tell me that I'm spoiling her, that I give her too much attention. And I think about nephews and nieces and how they were raised. I think about the fact that I have no real concrete memories of being a kid before my parents' split.

 

And I realize that if snuggling with my child, if listening to my child, if conversing and laughing with my child, if guiding and nurturing my child, if feeding and bathing my child is spoiling, then hot damn is it gonna get stinky up in this joint.

 

Welcome to the Future

In case I forget...10 signs it's Two Thousand Twelve:

 

 

* Mr. Rogers is dead and Dora won’t shut the fuck up.

 

 

* Neil Armstrong is in the news… because he passed away. L

* Smart phone: I’m in instant contact with anyone via phone, text, email, social media; I can look anything up via google; I can order anything via Amazon, etc... All without moving more than my finger and hand.

 

* My hair is gray.

 

* A new car costs more than a new house did when I was born.

* I have friends. (Thanks be to the internet.)

* I’m married and have a kid.

 

* 21 Jump Street is (was) a movie on the big screens.

* I have a mortgage.

* Lovie can watch whatever show she wants when she wants, and can be heard saying things like “no I don’t want you to pause it” and be referring to live TV.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Retro Friday

Won't be around today...

 

Yeah sorry but the hubs, the doll, and I are taking advantage of free parking, free entrance, free dolphin show, and free lunch at the zoo today (thanks to my job).

But click on that there photo of my Lovie from a year ago and check out a post from one year ago today. (she was SO little and i thought she was so big then!)

so glad you're back!

Forever now, we've been reading to Lovie any chance we could.

It started right after we found out she was a girl and I picked up a book that soon became my favorite: I Love You So...  I read that book every night whilst Lovie curled up inside of me. And, a couple weeks after she was born (after we got into a groove with her schedule and whatnot), we started reading to her again and soon, it became part of her bedtime routine.

Shortly after learning to walk and turning one, Lovie even started requesting we read to her:

can you believe how little she once was? WOW was she cute. still is but WOW.

Which, of course, we obliged.

Happily.

Joyfully.

Life is amazing with a little one sitting in your lap listening to you read, looking at pages, etc. Amazing and beautiful and perfect.


Shortly after Lovie turned two, bedtimes became a struggle and she lost interest in us reading to her. We implemented a new routine which allowed her to do what she wanted for a couple minutes before bedtime and soon, bedtimes became less of a struggle again.

But we weren't reading.

Occasionally she'd ask us to read on the weekends but for the most part, books just sat on the shelf.

It made me sad; I really missed reading to her.


The past couple of weeks, something has changed with Lovie again. Now, she'll ask, "Can I sit in your lap and you read to me?"

"Of course, baby!" I say, scooping her up and into my lap.

She's such a big girl now. She now sits there and "reads" (or sings) along with me. She now asks questions and points to different things in the book in such a Big-Girl-no-longer-baby way.

And I love it.

Life is amazing with a little one sitting in your lap listening to you read, looking at pages, etc. Amazing and beautiful and perfect.

Welcome back!

WW: Sneek a Peak into our future

coming this October

coming this December (i think)

both images courtesy of google images

this is why i should've used the self checkout lane at the grocery store

“Is your hair naturally…”

“Yes,” I answered before the cashier finished her sentence, expecting her to be asking if it was naturally curly since I get asked that a lot.

“Gray?”

Did she just ask me if my hair was naturally GRAY? Are you fucking kidding me? Is there someone behind me?

I quickly toss my curls in a way that allows me to look behind me for a moment to make sure nobody’s there. Nope, nobody but me.

“It’s so pretty,” she continued.

Really? My GRAY hair is pretty? PRETTY? GRAY?

“Thanks,” I smiled and then admitted, “I thought you were asking if it was naturally curly, but, yes the gray is natural, too.”

I mean, do people color their hair gray ON PURPOSE (coolio celebs excluded, of course)?

“You’re very lucky. I’ve been coloring mine for 30 years now to cover the gray.”

I smiled. I am lucky but certainly not because of my GRAY hair.

“Yeah I stopped coloring mine when I got pregnant.”

“Oh are you pregnant now?” She looks down at my belly.

THIS CONVERSATION KEEPS GETTING BETTER AND BETTER!!! WILL YOU PLEASE BE MY NEW BEE EF EF?!?

“Uh no. That was 3 years ago.”

“Oh well I love it. It almost looks frosted.”

FROSTED?!? WHO FROSTS THEIR HAIR ANYMORE?!? HOW OLD DO YOU THINK I AM?!??

I stuff my debit card back into my wallet.

“I want to stop coloring mine but I’ve asked the colorist if it will be full gray if I stop and she says yes. So I keep on coloring.”

I smile.

“But I cheat and take those touch up boxes and have my 18 year old just add it to any gray she sees every coupla weeks.”

“Oh that’s a great idea! I’ll have to keep that in mind for when my two and a half year old is able to do that. Then maybe I’ll start coloring my hair.” Take that mother to 18 year old! My kid’s only 2.5! See, I’m really not that old after all!

“No don’t start coloring it. It’s not solid gray and it really does look so nice.”

“Well, thanks. I’ve never had anyone tell me that they actually LIKE my gray hair so I’ll take it.”

“I actually don’t LIKE gray hair,” she says giving me my receipt. “But yours is so pretty because it’s not solid. If mine could look like that I wouldn’t color it. Don’t start!”

 
Two weeks away from turning 40, guess what’s on my mind?

WHO’S GONNA WASH THAT GRAY RIGHT OUTTA MY HAIR?!?

Just kidding. I've grown to love my natural hair (until someone asks me if I'm Lovie's Grandmother).

too soon Monday

I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a homebody.

Maybe it's because I work full time outside of the home, maybe it's because I'm a lazy fuck. Whatever the reason, I thoroughly enjoy weekends when we have little planned.

This past weekend was anything but...

Saturday we took Lovie to gymnastics where I realized that 2.5 is the age to start such a class. She absolutely loves participating and learning and listening to the teachers. Watching her follow along to instructions is just so awesome to experience. There's lots of I can't do it!'s but that's always followed by excited, I did it!!'s.

She plays hard and then naps hard.

After her nap following lunch after gymnastics, Lovie and I headed out to a birthday party for a one year old boy of a friend of mine. We spent several hours there and Lovie, again, had a great time. She's just so happy and awesome. I just adore watching her interact with others.

enough already. where's MY piece of cake?

Noon yesterday (Sunday), we headed out to my cousin's house an hour and half away for another party (for my cousin's 5 year old). Lovie napped in the car and when asked if she was ready for another party, she popped her eyes open and out we went into the backyard for the rest of the day.

Despite lots of bugs and bees everywhere, a great time was had.

When we got home, it was already bedtime but I did let her watch one Little Einsteins episode (this kid is addicted to TV!).

After a couple books, it was lights out for Lovie, and soon me.

And now it's Monday. Already. That's why I like staying home and doing whatever, whenever most weekends... Mondays seem to take a bit longer getting here than when we're super busy.