In Search of Guest Blogger

Well dear friends, my time to blog about dear Kate is over for a while. (And I am insulted by those who assume that such a message is proof of incarceration.) I have been specifically forbidden to come near my little angel by our pediatrician due to the long list of symptoms I have that closely resemble the list for swine flu.

I am currently holed up in the bedroom, thankful we have an attached bathroom, and feeling regretful that our color choice for the walls is so...minty... I believe I have turned a corner though, as this dose of excellent writing and keen wit is proof of, and shall indeed mend. (This morning, I personally felt that was in doubt, but my dear husband, in response to my yell through the door of "I think I'm dying" told me that "Those who are dying are not prone to hyperbole." I tried to untangle that answer but alas, my brain could not solve the riddle, and I was left to fear that I was, indeed, dying.)

In this time of need, I call upon those who see my daughter to take pictures, write stories, and generally document her adorable little life so that her mother, bless her, can peek at her again. This small wish is all that is left in my poor heart.

Now that I have spent what little reserve of energy I have left, I return to sleep, my doting companion with whom I must have a wrestling pillowfight in my jammies to keep beside me.

Be well, my friends. And Happy New Year to you.

Let me sleep, please?

Kate asked for a nap today for the first time ever. Perhaps in response to her very busy last few days, or perhaps because she hasn't been sleeping well, around 10 a.m. this morning she signed "horsey" then "nap" then "horsey" again. What is one to do but let the kid sleep? So she slept. When she awoke she went off and played with her other auntie, and her uncle, and dinnered with her mom's extended family. She had her 6 hours of non-family time. Okay, maaaybe 24. Now she spends the next few days in a very different sort of whirlwind with my family. Let's see if this time on Monday she's begging for a nap again...

Fear and Awe

Kate has a little bit of Old Testament style idol worship going on. Her cousin Mason is the "it" thing right now. So much so that "Ma" now refers not to her dear mother, but to Mason. This "Ma" is generally coupled with the "Where is it?" sign as she searches from room to room to find her beloved cousin. But, as any good Old Testament story goes, there is also loud clapping thunder, shaking earth, and some calamity. So while she often goes in search of her dear cousin, she just as often runs away shrieking.

She is picking up some tricks. Her current goal is to learn to jump off of Grandma's treadmill like her cousin can do. He demonstrates this to her frequently with helpful "see, Kate? like this! i'm FLYING!". Any attempts on auntie's part to remind him he can't fly ends in an arguement of "yes I can's" which just can't be effectively counter-argued. So far Kate has only succeeded in falling off the treadmill, but she's still trying. One more day and she might have it.

Gluttony, mirth, and bike riding

I am almost too tired to write this entry. Not because I have been sleep deprived. Kate has actually slept fairly well here, although she has been waking at the ungodly hour of 5am. Rather, I am exhausted from eating. This that I speak of is a special type of eating. Eating that I was not born into but am trying to learn to keep up with. Chunks of meat for each meal followed by and sometimes paired with sugar in various forms. I thought my mother had taught me about sugar. She had a dedicated sugar drawer in our kitchen filled with all kinds of sweet treats. Christmas in my in-laws home though is a whole new adventure into sweets and deliciousness. Although my tastebuds have delighted, my digestion and my blood sugar are not sure how to manage this rollercoaster and I might be forced to take a break soon.

Not that Kate has noticed. The poor girl is living the life her hypocritical parents have forced her into: one of no processed foods and no white sugar. She isn't going to know what hit her one of these days.

Despite the fact she isn't operating as though on a sugar high she has been moving as though on one. Her three year old cousin got a bike from Santa and he has been practicing riding in in the circle that connects kitchen-dining room-living room-and hallway. My sweet, quiet daughter has been chasing him every moment of his biking. Her one year old little legs racing in her attempt at a jog as she tries to catch him. As a result, she has been crashing, and crashing hard. For Kate, crashing looks like happy-energetic Kate on steroids. Which is followed fairly rapidly by cranky, whiney, moaney Kate. Today she was actually so tired she almost fell asleep while eating lunch: head hunched to the side against the headrest of the high chair (so THAT'S why there is a headrest to the highchair!), eyes slowly sinking closed... Poor kid. She then took an almost-three hour nap to try to recover for the second act.

Yesterday she enjoyed watching her cousin open lots of presents while curled up on daddy p's lap eating breakfast. She also enjoyed stealing these new toys to play with when said cousin was either napping or looking away. Her unaware parents brought no presents for her and were saved by her grandparents who purchased two noise making toys (a remote control and a pretend camera) that make music that she was thrilled to dance to. This did not prevent her from stealing her cousin's new drill as he napped and walking around the house "drilling holes" in the wall. Apparently my dad has done enough work on our new house that she knew instantly knew what to do with it. I was very surprised and happy to know that in a few years I will no longer be responsible for hanging anything up, or affixing anything to walls.





Today she met her first cat (liked, but didn't want to get near) and her first horse (neither liked nor wanted to get near). All in all I say this proves just how brilliant my little daughter is. It has been in the twenties here with a fierce wind though so we all bundled up mightily to make the outing and miss kate was more than happy to come back inside after not too long.

Oh winter day

Blessings to you all on this day we are asked to remember how to truly love ourselves and others and pursue this blazing love through all the pain, sacrifice and struggle that is sometimes required.