Popsicle Mind Expansion

Today Lily had her first Bomb Pop. I thought she needed more than just the same three flavors or original popsicles. She liked it. She liked drawing on her food tray in blue and red. And eating it up, all three flavors. I was thinking how we just take that name for granted. I mean, Bomb Pop? Here, kiddies, here's your violence food. Weird. But they're good. Yum-yum, as Lily says.

A little searching turned up that they were invented in 1955 and celebrated in June around Independence Day, so I'm guessing it was a post-war cultural symbol. Very American. Sounds like fodder for James Lileks.

New words are popping out of her like, well, popcorn! Here's a selection:

duck
moo
boy
step
in
out
up
down
mine
ice

time for me to go to bed. Johnny is riding the Ironman bike ride tomorrow (I think it's 100 miles) so I won't be able to sleep in like usual and let him feed Lily breakfast. But we'll do okay. Sue, her godmother, is picking us up around noon, and we're going to my art group for our monthly meeting. Luckily we're meeting at the person's house whose daughter watches Lily during the week a lot, and she's available, so they'll have fun while I get to visit and play with my art buddies. I'm bringing my glitter mod podge for anyone who wants to try it.

Nite nite. Think happy thoughts for us this week, I'm trying to think of it as an adventure, as opposed to an opportunity for panic. :)

Arty Baby Photo

I know you can't see her face, but I just love this picture: All the promise contained in that colorful box of chalk, her hand reaching into into, the blur of movment in her hair, the way her white sandals stand out against the dark cement, and even how there are pink lines already drawn around her on the ground. I have this as my desktop wallpaper now.

It is soooo nice to take her outside now that it's warmer, although it only got up to about 50 today. But she loves to explore. Yesterday she experienced her first ladybug. Bug is now a favorite word, and whenever we go outside we must look for them.

She still has a cold and cough so we didn't take her to class. I thought she might get overwhelmed with all the activity and also didn't want to spread her boogie cooties. Mommy and Daddy already have them, and that's enough. John took her to the park instead today but she wasn't very active, so my hunch was right. She was cranky today, and I think it's partly that she's sick, and partly that she knows something is up about Daddy. He leaves for Vegas for a 5-day conference on Monday morning and it's just be Liy and Mommy (and Doggie) for 5 nights. No Daddy. I'm nervous, but right now I'm feeling a little better, a little more like it could be a fun adventure. Sigrid and Nora are both coming some extra hours so really Tuesday and Thursday will be my only loooong days with no help.

Monday morning Sigrid is coming over and I thought we could go to the downtown library via the light rail train. Lily's never been on it and I think she would love looking out the windows. She's seen the train from our car, so she knows what it is. And the downtown library is new, with lots of fun play space. We can even look for books on bugs! So that's my Monday plan. Then we get back home before 1pm when Nora arrives.

My cold is doing a lot better since I started taking my homeopathic sinus med, Sinusalia. I highly recommend it for anyone who gets sinus infections with those monster sinus pressure headaches. I can take Ibuprofen, Sudafed, Benadryl, Nasalcrom, but nothing gets rid of the pressure like the Sinusalia. I know I sound like a commercial, and I don't even play a doctor on TV! But I'm just sayin'.

Shower Baby

This baby likes the shower, especially with Mommy or Daddy in it. She loves watching us take showers and handing us her tub toys (so generous), so she really loves it when we ask if she wants to get in. So we just strip her right there and pop her into the tub. And then the whale kisses the goldfish and all is well.

Her hair is sooooooo soft after we wash it, I just want to hug her tight and drink in the wonderfulness. I still love napping with her, and how she burrows into the crook of my chest while I curl around her (naps are always on Mommy and Daddy's bed).

Uh oh I just almost fell over. I guess I'm more tired than I thought. Lily has some kind of cold and I got her cooties, so I'm pretty tired. Maybe I can write more tomorrow.

John leaves Monday for his Vegas business conference. I am not going to panic. He gets back Friday night and then Saturday morning is the Walk for the Animals, which we are determined to go to. Lily will be in hog heaven with all those doggies. Not to mention how much we love it. M'kay, going bed now. G'nite. Ba bye.

Sidwalk Chalk Season!

Finally, it's getting warm outside. Well, we saw the neighbor baby had some sidewalk chalk and I thought that sounded like a fun idea, so here you see Lily amidst all of our art (Nora, Daddy, Mommy, and squiggles from Lily). Daddy even drew an airplane for Lily when she pointed one out in the sky. Then she licked the one Daddy drew. Um, honey, don't lick the ground. I can't find any logic there. Anyone?

Doggie!

I have been neglecting this blog, I know. Imperfect Mommy. What can I say? I've been busy. Obsessing over making stuff to get into a craft fair, and it's been almost a week now and I haven't heard back from them yet which drives me crazy because a patient person I am not. And having headaches, like that Alligators All Around alphabet book/song from Maurice Sendak. Did you know that H is Having Headaches? That's so perfect for me. Seems like I'm having them every day now. So some days I take the painkillers and it's easier and then some days I can't and I try to take other measures like ice pack, Head on (that glue stick for your head, basically like mentholatum, it cools the surface of your skin is all), staying out of the sun, etc. It sucks. I'm still adjusting my medications. But it's taking a long damn time and I get tired. And then there are the days I wake up in the morning and say "nope, can't do it." And John has to completely rearrange his schedule and I have to call my neurology clinic and hope I can get in for an infusion appointment sometime that day.

Lily is doing well. This picture is of her leaving the Children's Hospital after we took her to her free eval from the occupational therapist as a follow-up to her being a preemie. Verdict: she's a genius. She's either caught up the two months or surpassed them significantly in her development. I need to remember that, I'm doing a good job. Good mommy. Because of Spring Break we haven't had ECFE class for two weeks and I've missed it. The parks classes have started and so we go to the music class with the same teacher we did over winter and Lily is happy about that. Today was our first class back.

I took her to the Maul of America today to get some new jammies, some cooler ones, since it's finally, finally starting to warm up here. She was very good in the stores. No tantrums. Just exploring and showing me things. And she walked most of the way through the mall until after lunch. Lunch was a fiasco, but then sometimes it's like that. I was by myself with her and it's hard to balance everything. I burnt my hand on pizza, she didn't want to eat the pizza I got her, she spilled my smoothie all down the front of her shirt and pants and onto the chair, and then the topper was that she was twisting around on a chair (I didn't use a high chair) and she fell backwards off it and bonked her head on the floor. OWIE! I held her for a while. No staff came over to see if we were all right, so I didn't feel bad leaving them a mess to clean up. It wasn't that much of a mess, it was all in one pile. But what is with putting the napkins in one spot, light years away from the drinks, tables, and food??? Stupid.

Anyway, we got some good jammies at Carter's and an outfit at the Disney Store as well as a hat she picked out. I'm so glad she likes wearing hats now, she looks so cute in them. I know, she looks cute in everything.