Thursday, March 31, 2016
Tuesday, March 29, 2016
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Sunday, March 20, 2016
3.20.16 - Bedtime routine
It's so surreal watching Clara get older. I'm both sad that the time is going quickly, that she will never be as tiny as she was before, as she is now, again, and also joyful watching her learn new things and develop new skills and habits.
For example, I used to use a little finger baby toothbrush to brush her teeth with fluoride-free toothpaste. But a week or so ago we switched to a little toothbrush she can hold on her own and the same toothpaste Jack and I use. (The pediatrician recommended getting her kid-friendly fluoride toothpaste in bubblegum flavor or some other more kid-friendly version, but as long as she keeps goign with what we already have I'll stick with that. She's so easy-going.) Anyway, each morning and night-time I get both my toothbrush and hers ready. Then I sit on the bathroom floor next to her and start brushing my teeth while holding out her toothbrush to her. She takes it herself and tries to brush her teeth too, all the while smiling at me. From time to time she will try to put her toothbrush in my mouth but I just move my head away and so she goes back to brushing. It's so sweet to see her try to mimic and to get excited when I show excitement too. Although tonight she got distracted a little early by the hanging belts behind the bathroom door, haha.
Another way her routine has changed is bedtime stories. She used to lay passively against me while I read her books. Now she's much more interactive. Tonight I picked 5-6 books and brought her in my bedroom for story time. For the first book or two, while I was reading she'd lean against me and just watch, although between each book she'd sit up and rub her feet excitedly against the bed sheets. Once I was on the 3rd book she wanted to sit up even while I was reading and touch different parts of the book. It was The Very Hungry Caterpillar and she likes to turn the "short" pages about what the caterpillar eats. She likes to try to stick her tiny little pointer finger into the holes in the food, and after awhile she also grabbed my much larger pointer finger and tried to get me to find the same holes.
Similarly, now when we get to the end of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom she grabs my finger so she can hold on while I point to each letter in the alphabet as I sing the ABCs. I love it when she grabs my finger to try to get me to do things for her, and I love that she loves story time so much.
Finally I took her to give Daddy a kiss goodnight, and then I took her in the nursery and kissed her myself and put her down. And, just like with most nights, she rubbed her face into the mattress (belly down) and kicked her legs as she got into a comfortable position--no fuss, just ready to go to bed.
She's such a darling kid.
For example, I used to use a little finger baby toothbrush to brush her teeth with fluoride-free toothpaste. But a week or so ago we switched to a little toothbrush she can hold on her own and the same toothpaste Jack and I use. (The pediatrician recommended getting her kid-friendly fluoride toothpaste in bubblegum flavor or some other more kid-friendly version, but as long as she keeps goign with what we already have I'll stick with that. She's so easy-going.) Anyway, each morning and night-time I get both my toothbrush and hers ready. Then I sit on the bathroom floor next to her and start brushing my teeth while holding out her toothbrush to her. She takes it herself and tries to brush her teeth too, all the while smiling at me. From time to time she will try to put her toothbrush in my mouth but I just move my head away and so she goes back to brushing. It's so sweet to see her try to mimic and to get excited when I show excitement too. Although tonight she got distracted a little early by the hanging belts behind the bathroom door, haha.
Another way her routine has changed is bedtime stories. She used to lay passively against me while I read her books. Now she's much more interactive. Tonight I picked 5-6 books and brought her in my bedroom for story time. For the first book or two, while I was reading she'd lean against me and just watch, although between each book she'd sit up and rub her feet excitedly against the bed sheets. Once I was on the 3rd book she wanted to sit up even while I was reading and touch different parts of the book. It was The Very Hungry Caterpillar and she likes to turn the "short" pages about what the caterpillar eats. She likes to try to stick her tiny little pointer finger into the holes in the food, and after awhile she also grabbed my much larger pointer finger and tried to get me to find the same holes.
Similarly, now when we get to the end of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom she grabs my finger so she can hold on while I point to each letter in the alphabet as I sing the ABCs. I love it when she grabs my finger to try to get me to do things for her, and I love that she loves story time so much.
Finally I took her to give Daddy a kiss goodnight, and then I took her in the nursery and kissed her myself and put her down. And, just like with most nights, she rubbed her face into the mattress (belly down) and kicked her legs as she got into a comfortable position--no fuss, just ready to go to bed.
She's such a darling kid.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
3.16.16 - Rough start turned around
For reasons I won't get into (because this is the Joy Inventory), my day was pretty stressful through the morning. I was feeling downright dejected by the time I posted this:
Mishy: Two residents told me I was their favourite aide today.
And you know what? The responses really did help. I would check back every 45 mins or so and see a few more, and getting a glimpse into the little happy moments in everyone's lives, just imagining them all over the country thinking about what makes them happy, really did make me happy. I was much comforted.
Responses included cute or funny pictures of pets and friends, as well as these:
Ellen:I'm on spring break and it's sooooo nice. I made lots of delicious food, cleaning my apt foreal, and Bryon and I are gonna see The Witch today which I'm excited about.
Lisa: I recently bought several storage items, and several times this morning I've had the joy of picking up an item and thinking, "I have somewhere to put you!"
Mom: I'm really enjoying my little bird feeder that I hung in the Japanese maple tree just outside my home office window. Or I guess I should say I'm enjoying seeing the little finches and occasional cardinal. Oh, and I love, love, love videos of Clara Lynn!
Anthony: Leftover pizza, coffee with a friend with open minded conversation, read an awesome SPL article.
Evelyn: It is a rare day of NO RAIN in the west and I am on my way to Galway for St. Patrick's day.
Rebecca: Moving out of our apartment and having my husband home two extra days.
Whitney: Hot coffee on the morning on the train. Golden retriever temper tantrums. Annoying, but the cutest thing ever. Bandit lied down when I was trying to take him home after the dog park, so I laid down with him and we had a mini play and snuggle fest.
Adam: I recently ordered Dragonball Z T-shirts, right now I am at work mapping train tracks while drinking sea salt caramel coffee.
Jennifer B: Sleeping in :)
Jennifer L: Sharing a bacon spud and orange cranberry club with my nephew at mccalisters then off to enjoy the warm weather
Erin: I got some good adult things done in the past few days, like taxes (and getting money back!), renewing my drivers license, and applying for Heath care. Yay productivity!
Nick: My mom is making me a home cooked meal tonight. Tutoring kids to get into the Marines. Visiting my little brother. Gonna see some good friends tomorrow
Everett: Rolled down windows on a nice day with Animal Style by Jackal blaring from my speakers.
Dan: Working at the farm today. No burning text books but still a great day to be outside working the land.
Aaron: I had a lot of fun in my Ochem lab last week when a kid sprayed my back with a product we were developing. I smelled the shirt today and it STILL smells like isopentyl acetate. That's right, it smells like banana laffy taffy.
Julie: I got to visit the Japanese Garden at MOBot today (my happy place) with my lovely little family today.
PS - Other joys today included Pieology date with Jack (proud to be on a date with a guy in scrubs, haha) and learning how to use IF function in Excel. Actually I wrote this whole function myself and it worked!
=IF(AQ298<20,"<20",IF(AQ298<=
Neil was proud of me.
Oh, and I got to Skype with Mom tonight and she was laughing a lot at Clara and she got this great shot of Ms. Goofball clapping my hands.
Sunday, March 13, 2016
3.13.16 - cheap jeans and work progress
Dad finally launched the first CER video and it has gotten tons of positive feedback, making Dad eager to keep producing videos, which is great news for me. First it's great when people like you're work, and second it's great because it ensures I'll have plenty more work where that came from. One investor even said:
This is one of the most useful things I’ve seen from anyone. The simplicity is perfect. The illustrations are … great. The voice over … excellent.
Do more of these … lots more.
3.13.16 - talking about progress
Monica: we have started a
tradition of getting lunch together on Wednesdays
Monica: our schedules just
work out that way
Monica: we go to a cheap
pizza place
Monica: anyway
Monica: last week he met me
at the crime lab and we drove over together
Monica: and I was watching
him get soda in his scrubs and I just had this moment of excitement and
happiness
Monica: because he's really
doing it--nursing school, and I have a pretty good internship
Sarah: ☺ that's awesome!
Monica: and even though we're
swamped and money is always tight, we are really in a very progressive phase
Monica: I love that
Sarah: yeah indeed! you
are both killing it career wise!
Monica: feels good to feel
like you're moving toward something
Monica: yeah :)
Monica: I mean there's always
more - I want to be with Clara more and I want to get started on a 2nd kid
Monica: but we're doing
everything we can with what we've got, there's some satisfaction in that
 |
| Jack in scrubs. |
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
3.9.16 - diced mushrooms and Jack's appreciation
(Specifically Jack had told me how much he appreciates all I do to take care of Clara so that he can focus on nursing school. He had a classmate who was having serious trouble with her kids and had to make up a test, and it made him grateful for how he doesn't have to worry about that type of thing because I'm covering it. It means a lot to me that he notices and remembers that we're a team.)
Monday, March 7, 2016
3.7.16 - Don & Merlene's visit
Sadly I don't have time to write a full note, but I wanted to remember that Don and Merlene's visit was wonderful. They are always so supportive and helpful. They watched Clara pretty much every day, which saved us nannying money and meant I got to see Clara more too, because they could watch her while I worked from home so I was still around.
Merlene cooked tons of delicious meals, of course, and also made a bunch of cupcakes both for Clara's actual birthday and for a few days later when we had a little get together to celebrate. She and Don also kept everything incredibly clean and bought anything that they noticed we could need or want, such as super long-lasting light bulbs, back up laundry detergent, and a baby walker for Clara. Merlene even kept bringing extra muffins and oatmeal and hot chocolate packets from their hotel every morning.
They also babysat on a Friday night so Jack and I could have a date. We went to see Deadpool (which was very funny) and then got a quick drink after. It was really nice.
Plus there company was great. It was nice having adults around to talk to whenever. It was kind of sad coming home to an empty apartment this evening.
I really appreciate that they make the effort to visit and do so much for us when they're here. They are very generous in-laws.
Merlene cooked tons of delicious meals, of course, and also made a bunch of cupcakes both for Clara's actual birthday and for a few days later when we had a little get together to celebrate. She and Don also kept everything incredibly clean and bought anything that they noticed we could need or want, such as super long-lasting light bulbs, back up laundry detergent, and a baby walker for Clara. Merlene even kept bringing extra muffins and oatmeal and hot chocolate packets from their hotel every morning.
They also babysat on a Friday night so Jack and I could have a date. We went to see Deadpool (which was very funny) and then got a quick drink after. It was really nice.
Plus there company was great. It was nice having adults around to talk to whenever. It was kind of sad coming home to an empty apartment this evening.
I really appreciate that they make the effort to visit and do so much for us when they're here. They are very generous in-laws.
Friday, March 4, 2016
3.4.16 - Deadpool
...was hilarious. Fun date night with Jack while Don and Merlene watched l'il miss.
3.4.16 - Clara in her crib
Two joys:
The morning, when Clara first wakes up and starts fussing and I walk into her nursery and she is standing at the edge of her crib nearest the door waiting for me to come get her, and then I pick her up and she burrows into my shoulder and acts super cuddly. I love that moment, not least of all because I feel like it's been so long since I held her the night before, haha.
The night, when she drinks from her bottle by herself while I read her bedtime stories, and she gets super relaxed. When I pick her up and she cuddles onto my shoulder (instead of popping her head up and squirming and looking around), I know she' ready to pass out. I take her in the dark nursery, give her a kiss, and lay her down in her crib. For a long time she would stick her arms out straight, push herself into a crawling position and start crying, but the past few weeks she just burrows into the crib mattress and coos and goes to sleep. Love that.
The morning, when Clara first wakes up and starts fussing and I walk into her nursery and she is standing at the edge of her crib nearest the door waiting for me to come get her, and then I pick her up and she burrows into my shoulder and acts super cuddly. I love that moment, not least of all because I feel like it's been so long since I held her the night before, haha.
The night, when she drinks from her bottle by herself while I read her bedtime stories, and she gets super relaxed. When I pick her up and she cuddles onto my shoulder (instead of popping her head up and squirming and looking around), I know she' ready to pass out. I take her in the dark nursery, give her a kiss, and lay her down in her crib. For a long time she would stick her arms out straight, push herself into a crawling position and start crying, but the past few weeks she just burrows into the crib mattress and coos and goes to sleep. Love that.
 |
| Burrowing. |
Thursday, March 3, 2016
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