Peas and Carrots

For the most part, Natalie is an enthusiastic eater. Her mmmms and excited bouncing in her highchair make a very definite statement! There is just one exception to that eagerness ... any veggie that falls into the green category. And really who can blame her? The green beans and peas look, smell, and taste ... well, not appetizing ... at all! Which leads me to my first attempt at baby food "cooking" - which is really just mixing, no heat involved ... but with my limited abilities in the kitchen, to me this qualifies as cooking ;)

Peas were on the menu tonight, Natalie was giving me quite a show - gagging and scrunching up her face as if it was alien slime, not peas, on the spoon. In the past, I've simply given up and opened a container of something orange, but at some point she does need to expand her veggie repertoire. That's when it occurred to me ... mix the yucky greens with another veggie she likes ... brilliant in it's simplicity, I know :)

As I scanned my cabinet, I had a very definite Forrest Gump flashback, "Me and Jennie go together like peas and carrots." And I thought, so true, so true! Bare in mind, I've never actually tried this veggie combination myself - in fact I prefer my veggies in the singular. But I figure an Oscar-winning movie can't be wrong! Anyway, I dumped some carrots into the bowl of peas, mixed until the puree was a most interesting shade of ... brown, and started shoveling it in ... all while repeating that famous line from the movie. Natalie's immediate reaction clearly said, "That Gump guy doesn't know what he's talking about!"

Apparently when it comes to baby food, peas and carrots are not Oscar-worthy, but Natalie's performance, her look of complete and udder disgust, had best actress potential!

Elbow Injury

Natalie has been rolling over like crazy these past few days! All that rolling led to her first real boo-boo. Natalie has been having a hard time falling asleep, especially for naps, because she is so busy practicing her rolling skills. And this morning was no exception. Just a few minutes after laying her down for the first nap of the day, we could hear some fussing on the monitor. My hubby volunteered to check on her, and he found Natalie on her tummy with her right arm kind of trapped behind her. As he rolled her over to her back, there was a scream of pain, and I immediately knew something was wrong. I ran up the stairs to help calm my sweet girl, but even when I cuddled her close, she didn't settle down - very rare! Some troubleshooting revealed that something was wrong with Natalie's arm. I called Grammy to ask her what I should do, and she said, "Call the doctor." I described what happened to Dr. Spence, and she diagnosed a dislocated elbow.

Not sure I would go so far as to call it dislocated ... more like pulled ... I mean it was out of the socket, but not to the point where it looked funny ... I could just tell that she was hurting. Once we got her arm immobilized, she was totally calm ... and by the time we got to the doctor's office she was even smiling! The doctor just checked her entire arm - very carefully - and then bent her arm so that her hand touched her shoulder - there was a tiny pop and that was it ... she didn't cry at all, and she's been using her arm like normal. But it's good to know that it's actually quite common - especially once they start walking and you hold their hands up over their head. And I feel good about the ultimate outcome because I feel like Natalie did a good job communicating with me, and I was able to maintain my composure ... good to know for future and more serious situations - mommy instinct just kind of kicks in :)

Valentine's Day 2008

For Natalie's first Valentine's Day we hosted a little playdate with our buddy Owen and his mommy. It was so fun to watch the two of them interact with each other; they reached out, touched each other's face, and held hands briefly ... so, so cute!

Make a free ecard - it's easy!

Clearly, love was in the air ;) And the thought that Natalie will - one day - fall in love fills me with mixed emotions. And I find myself wondering what was it like for my mom and dad to watch me fall in love with Chad? Life is just one big circle, isnt' it?!

The rest of this "holiday" was spent with the stomach flu. Natalie had it last week, and I was lucky enough to get it just in time to ruin my romantic dinner plans for Chad. The heart-shaped meatloaf and German chocolate cake had to wait until Saturday night ... better late than never! More than anything, this day of L-O-V-E reminded me just how blessed I am to be a wife and mommy; does it get any better than this?

Roll With It, Baby!

Natalie has been rolling over - from her back to her tummy - since the beginning of January. However, the essential skill of getting off her tummy (aka reversing the roll) has eluded her ... for six long weeks! Of course, the "tootsie sabbatical" she's been on lately has caused her rolling studies to suffer considerably. Just this weekend she finally stopped sucking her toes long enough to give this rolling thing another try.

After much practice and coaching and cheering (what is this little league?) and much to my delight, Natalie is now rolling from her tummy to her back. Not consistently, and not with much proficiency, but she's doing it! It's such a wonderfully choreographed movement ... straighten the arm, bend the opposite knee, and tilt the head back - ever so slowly. It's really the weight of that cute noggin that makes it all possible - at least in Natalie's version of the tummy-to-back waltz.

Oh, by the way, her roll only works in one direction - counterclockwise. She's bound to get dizzy before she gets too far, right?

Here's a video of her back-to-tummy roll ... and I'll try to capture her latest move in the next few days.

Mommy Brain

I am not feeling all that inspired to write. In fact, I kind of feel like procrastinating, so I've been surfing the triple w (that's right, the world wide web - does anyone even call it that anymore?). And I’ve discovered I’m most certainly not alone in my blogging attempt. I Googled “mommy brain” and got 271,000 hits. Clearly, mommy brain is a widespread epidemic, but I must admit I am a little surprised to find so many other moms willing to celebrate it - yes, with enthusiasm and optimism!

Here are a few other blogs with the same name:

• "How motherhood has made me smarter" http://www.bradyhq.com/
• "It happens to the best of us" - http://mommybrain.net/

And here's a poem I found entitled, "Mommy Brain" - imagine that!

If you've left the crayons to melt in the car,
And forgotten just where the car keys are,
There's a perfectly good way to explain:
You see, you've come down with "Mommy Brain."

When you're not sure where the past 8 hours went,
Or whether the phone bill check's been sent,
If you've left the laundry drying in the rain,
It's just--you guessed it--Mommy Brain.

If you find yourself chatting for hours on end
About diaper prices with your cyberfriends,
You've just caught a particularly virulent strain
Of that affliction known as Mommy Brain.

If you left your bags at the grocery store
Or completely forgot what you went there for,
If you called the cat by your baby's name,
You can bet that Mommy Brain's to blame.

And if you know the words to "Goodnight Moon" by heart,
Or you study your sleeping babe like a work of art,
If you're always surprised by how time is flying,
And the thought of that first birthday starts you crying.....

It's unavoidable girls, and I feel your pain,
For I, too, suffer from Mommy Brain.
But I'll admit one thing--of this I'm sure:
I hope they never find a cure.

©1998 Carlotta Stankiewicz
http://myteacher.net/uplifting/mommybrain.txt