We had a lovely rainy day yesterday, and Baguette had fun at home, with Bestie, and on a walk to see actual water in the L.A. River. Take a look:
Tag: Baguette
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Three Day Weekend
Mr. Sandwich and I each have jobs that give us Veterans Day off, and Baguette’s day care is closed on Veterans Day, so we had a three-day weekend. One day per family member! Except Wicket. No extra day for Wicket. She’d just sleep through it, anyhow.
So what did we do with this glorious time?
We ran a lot of errands. Mr. Sandwich went on a bike ride. I took Baguette to her swim class, and we met Bestie and Family for lunch at McDonald’s (Hey, Mickey D’s, why no more Chicken Selects? They were the only thing I was really willing to eat there.). Wicket went to the groomer. I made two batches of chicken stock in the crock pot, as well as two loaves of pumpkin bread, minus the pumpkin (an oversight, but not a fatal one, it turns out).
Oh, and there was this.
Good luck, New Jersey. I wish there were more I could do.
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Thankful Thursday: Family
I’m really not sure I can express how thankful I am for my family.
- For my parents, who taught me their values and how to determine my own.
- For my brother, who loves me even though I may have been guilty of psychological torture when we were children.
- For Mr. Sandwich, who sees everything I can be, and tells me what he sees.
- For his parents, who welcomed me into their family long, long before he and I became a couple.
And of course for Baguette, who we feared might never be—but is.
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Confidence and Communication
I’ve written a bit about Baguette’s school, and their concerns about how she interacts with her classmates. Here are some of our observations:
1) She does get wary around unfamiliar people and large groups.
2) She is overjoyed to play with Bestie, and she warms up quickly to unfamiliar children. Shoot, when we went to Santa Barbara, we’d get to a playground and the first thing she’d do was hug some little girl she’d never seen before.
3) She is not as articulate as her classmates. We knew this was the case with Bestie, but Bestie is a little older and has always been very verbal–the two of them really can’t be compared. Now, though, we’re seeing a difference between her and classmates who are several months younger.
4) Her vocabulary is booming. She repeats things we say, and things she hears from Sesame Street.
5) Her enunciation is not very clear at all.
The result of this is that she lacks confidence in large groups. So she talks up a storm at home, but is largely silent at school. And it’s getting in the way of her toilet training, because while she is telling people that she needs to go to the bathroom, she’s not doing it with words–and apparently her teachers are unable to recognize that.
We wanted to let her develop at her own pace, and gave her until 2-1/2. But it’s clear that the pace is too slow for her own satisfaction, and she’s getting frustrated by the discrepancy between her desire to communicate and her ability to do so.
So we’ve started to explore speech therapy. We have a referral from her doctor, but we couldn’t get an appointment until late January–by which time we’ll have changed insurance providers, making that referral useless. Plus, January. And there are programs available through the public school system, but she isn’t eligible to participate until she turns three.
The next option is a private program, for which we’d pay out of pocket. Not cheap, not cheap at all. But this is a Big Deal, and we save for Big Deal expenses.
We’re gearing up for intensive research. Because we want to give our daughter opportunities. Not the moon. Just the usual stuff. Like self-expression.
Photo by Piano Piano! via Flickr.
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We All Are Strong
I’m delighted to have a new guest post up at Meagan Francis’s blog The Happiest Mom! As I did with an earlier post, I’m writing about what I’ve learned as a new(ish) mother:
Labor is hard, and after 32 hours of it, I was truly exhausted. But when the time came to push, I gave it my all. After the first push, I looked up at Mr. Sandwich and said, “I can do this.” He said, “I know you can.” And I said, “No, you don’t understand. I can DO this.” Because he may have believed in me, but until I got there, I wasn’t so sure.
To read the rest of the post, visit The Happiest Mom.
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Sick
I’ve been sicker.
For example, I was actually able to get Baguette to day care on my own. Not bad, if I do say so myself. Why?
On Friday, Baguette came home with a stomach virus. After several bouts of vomiting, she was done–and the next morning, she was fine. (We skipped swimming and a Halloween party in the interests of Calm, but she clearly was back to her regular pizza-loving self.)
And all seemed well. But then, last night, it turned out that I had the same stomach virus. And between trips to the bathroom and just feeling lousy, I think I got maybe two and a half hours of sleep.
As the night progressed, I also started to feel very achy. And my feet got cold–so cold I dug out the ancient cashmere socks that I bought I-don’t-know-how-long-ago.
We didn’t sleep in much after Mr. Sandwich left for work, and I got Baguette to day care about 30 minutes later than usual. Then I went back to bed and slept until about 10. When I woke up, I was still achy, and my feet were cold again. And eventually, the aches turned into an actual fever. So not only did I have some kind of stomach bug, but I got to top it off with the flu! Huzzah!
I spent most of the day on the sofa bed trying to keep warm. I felt so bad that it was too hard to get up, walk 15 feet to the hall thermostat, and turn on the heater. It was going to be a warm day–surely the house would heat up on its own. But it didn’t, and the socks and a fleece throw could only do so much, so eventually I succumbed to the lure of the heater.
I tried a little water, and then a little weak tea, and eventually some Gatorade. And with the exception of one piece of toast, which clearly was a bad idea, that was all I had until Mr. Sandwich got home from work. (Dinner: broth and a little rice).
I’m feeling better now, as indicated by the thermometer above, although I’m not sure how much of that is due to the Tylenol I was finally able to take. And it’s definitely not as bad as the time three and a half years ago that we got swine flu.
But it was still miserable, and I hope Mr. Sandwich doesn’t get it.
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TV and Me
Joanna Goddard (of A Cup of Jo) and her husband gave up TV for a week. It sounds like they had a great week.
I’m a big fan of TV in moderation. Personally, I can go all day and barely have it on, and not just because I’m at work–I often don’t watch much TV when I’m home sick, for example.
And when it is on these days, we’re most likely watching “Sesame Street” episodes on the DVR, or some other form of children’s television provided by Sprout TV (but not “Caillou“! Not “Caillou”!).
So what that means is that for me, getting to watch Actual Grownup Shows is something of a treat–because mostly they just stack up in the DVR. And now the only time Mr. Sandwich and I are likely to watch them is when we’re both home without Baguette. Because at night, we’re all up or we’re all in bed. There’s no “after she gets to bed, we’ll watch a couple of episodes of ‘Louie‘.”
(And that’s too bad. I love “Louie.” I love it so much that I’m reasonably at peace with Louis CK’s decision to take a year off so that he can keep the quality high. Because–nooooooo!—but okay, because I’ll make that trade for a show that good.)
But this, in case you were wondering, is why we have something like 27 episodes of “Castle” just sitting there in the DVR. Waiting. And waiting.
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Rain!
Yesterday we got our first real taste of fall and winter.
Baguette loved every minute of it.
At one point, she even brought the umbrella inside. But it was already open, so no bad luck there.
I assume.
Although on second thought, maybe that’s why they’re predicting highs in the upper 90s for next week.
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Accessories
This morning, in a rare moment of accessorizing, I put on a necklace. The following exchange ensued:
Baguette: No, Mommy, no. Noooo!
Me: Should I take off the necklace? There, is that all better?
Baguette: That’s all better.So I dropped her off at day care and put the necklace back on.
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Baguette Knows What She Needs
Mr. Sandwich and I will sometimes pause and say to one another, “This is a dream come true.” And I can tell that Baguette has those moments, too.
Baguette has been very anxious for me to be around her lately, but when we are together–and by “together,” I mean snuggled up against one another, she is so happy. We’ll sit on the couch, with her leaning up against me, and she will just relax.
Or she’ll stand up, grab my hand, and pull me into the hall. There, she’ll sit down and say, “Mommy SIT.” When I do, she’ll say, “Mommy NIGHT” and push on my chin until I lie down on the floor. She’ll lie down next to me, give a deep exhaling sigh, and then just beam at me. Then, giggling, she’ll run to my feet and crawl along on top of me until she wraps her arms around my neck, roll off me, and go back to my feet.
That’s all she needs right now–me, focused on her and playing the way she wants to. It’s so simple, and so wonderful. And being loved like that is so humbling.
Although I do have to say this: I hear lying on the floor is good for your back. And I am not convinced.
Photo by Mr. Sandwich.
