Wednesday, July 29, 2009

To the First of Many...

Happy Birthday, Dory! Considering what a rich, intense day the 29th was last year, we had a lovely, low-key day today. Traditions were maintained. We cooked spaghetti for lunch, the same thing my mama made for Matthew and I when we all came home from the birth center last year. Matthew brought us both flowers. He gave us each a card. And Dory opened her presents right before bed, a crazy idea on our part, as she revved back up and wasn't ready for bed until almost 10:30 (hence the late post). As was the day, her gifts were simple.

A pop-up style book that makes noises and a small WonderPets stuffed animal from our friends Betsy, Randy and Andrew.


A bag of Mega Blocks, which will hopefully prove entertaining for us, as well as Dory.




And a bag of randomly selected balls from the big ball bin at Toys 'R Us.




The balls were definitely a hit.


We have a party for the family planned for this weekend and that's going to be fantastic. I'm glad today, though, on her very first birthday we had such a sweet, quiet day with the three of us.

I want to write more, but I am exhausted! For now, I'll just leave it at Happy Birthday Dory, our crawling, giggling, babbling, blue-eyed, pasta-eating miracle.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

You Never Know...

This time last year...

Matthew and I were sitting in our den, after a home-cooked Mexican dinner, watching something action-packed on television, and he was giving me a great foot massage.  I was pregnant and big as all outdoors. Baby (as we called our Gender Unknown Little One) was due August 2nd and, being the confident, well-informed parents-to-be we were, we were both convinced this kid was not showing up before next week, at the earliest. We planned a natural birth, no medical induction, and by leaving our baby's birthday undecided (some said to chance, we said to God), being overdue was normal. Even expected. And I knew, with my new mama instinct, I was having an August baby...

Just that day, I made an appointment for us to meet our new pediatrician the following Friday. It was the first opportunity the doctor had to sit down with us and, as I pointed out to the receptionist, Baby wasn't due until that Saturday, we should be fine to come in on the first. "If Baby comes early, just bring him with you!" She quipped back and we both had a good chuckle...

All the little things we did, all those funny old wives' tales you hear about how to trigger labor, none of which we considered as we cooked our spicy dinner or Matthew rubbed my feet and ankles...

I didn't think about it on the great long walk I took earlier that day. Nor did I think much about the cleaning frenzy that struck me that afternoon. My good friend Emily stopped by, with her eight-week-old, and suggested all this cleaning of mine might be nesting instincts. "Come over tomorrow to knit," she suggested, "unless you're having a baby!" Oh, how we laughed and laughed over that one...

I think I went to bed around midnight or so, leaving Matthew downstairs working on his first-time parent plan. He wanted to prep for Baby and the Sleepless Nights we were told to expect, so each night he stayed up a little later to prepare himself for functioning with less sleep. Thank goodness he had Playstation 3's NCAA College Football '09 to help him along in this endeavor...

I remember getting in bed, reading a little, writing in my journal and watching a re-run of Sex and the City on TV when I couldn't sleep. Around twelve-thirty or quarter of one, I flipped off the light...

And to use that age-old writer's turn of phrase, little did I know...

Monday, July 27, 2009

Dory and the Bear

(Hey Fans. This post is a little late in coming, sorry 'bout that. Mama's computer was all crazy and I couldn't get on to blog until tonight. SO here's a post I put together almost two weeks ago.- Baby D)


Hi Y'all! Dory here!


Can you guess where I am...?


The mountains!




Our good friend Candy invited us to come stay. Isn't she nice? It made her so happy I said yes!


There's a lake...


And it's very secluded and quiet...


You can't even hear these guys up at the cabin...


Gram came too...


I have to say, I am a fan of nature. All the fresh air...


Playing outside...


Long walks...




I think I could definitely see myself settling down in a place-


Umm... huh- is that- is that a-


A BEAR?


Wait a second...


Nope, my mistake.


It's a stuffed animal. Phew.


I definitely like the mountains. And the lake. And the woods.

But maybe I don't want to live there...

Sunday, July 26, 2009

The Proof Is in the Pasta

All sorts of good news in our house this week, the first of which is (and this is not to be treated lightly)- this is Miss D's birthday week! Our girl will be one on Wednesday and, I promise, crossed heart and all that, there will be lots of posting about that this week. Once I get my mind around the fact that she's been here for a year...

And the second bit of news- my computer is fixed and updated and working bee-yoo-tifully. Ah, thank you very much Mr. Matthew Mac-Genius.

Which means- pictures!

Tonight's quick updates are about that one perfect food- pasta.

Miss D is quite the noodle fan.







And if you've ever wondered if the rumors about pasta and sleepiness are true...

Going...


Going...


Gone...

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Real, Honest-to-Goodness Updates

I've been walking around with potential posts on my mind for almost two weeks now. A wee bit of technical trouble kept me down, however. First, the batteries in our camera died and for the first time in years (possibly) we had no more AA batteries in the house. This, in itself, is shocking. I have random household items that I buy in excess, as in, while at the store, I see a great deal on batteries, shaving cream, Crisco, any kind of spice or seasoning, and think "this is such a great deal! I must get some so we have extra!" Only to bring said item home and discover we already have three to five extra containers of this same product lurking in the cabinet. For once, though, my planning-sense failed me and no batteries meant no picture uploading.

We bought more batteries, but then the second impediment occurred when Matthew, quite kindly, offered to update my computer software. The good old laptop... ran... very... slowly. This was a great offer and one I jumped all over, especially as I didn't have to do anything except hand over my laptop for a night and wait for it to be returned, faster, better and with the ability to transform into a car and get cast in a summer blockbuster. Except when we did said upgrades, saving all my old data, then taking everything off, and uploading the new we skipped a crucial step it would seem- taking the old software off too. At least, that's what we think happened. My laptop now has twice as much memory in use as before, which means, until we get this little... ahem... situation figured out, downloading pictures is impossible. And frankly, what's a post without pictures?

Well, Grandpa Mojo to the rescue tonight! He and Granny S watched little one yesterday, so Matthew and I and my mama, might go see the new Harry Potter. And while watching he took pictures. So run your eyes over these shots, while I update you on the Divine Miss D's progress...

She's crawling everywhere.



And pulling up on everything. Seriously, everything. You can't stand still too long or you'll feel a pair of small, but determined hands climbing up the side of your pants leg.





There's definite conversation going on, particularly on "dada," a little "dog" (which can be the dogs or squirrels) and "hi." The best thing about her "hi" is it's often accompanied with a little wave. Oh, the wave. It melts me. And pretty much anyone who sees it, including Matthew, all grandparents, our friends and random strangers at the store. We almost caused a pile-up in the baby aisle at the grocery store tonight when she and another adorable little one engaged in a wave-off.

Beyond the waving, there's lot of general chatter, but, as she gets older, the chatter is different. Before she entertained herself by making random sounds to us, the walls, the ceiling, her toys. Now she's intentionally conversing, looking intent and thoughtful, with lots of eye contact and smiles, as she yammers. It is amazing to watch and so exciting. Soon we will have another member of the Mojo house competing for talk-time; always a fine, fine thing.



She's definitely into solid foods. How I miss my recent pictures right now! I'll do another food post soon. Pasta is her new fave and frankly deserves a post of its own.

The fact is, as we speed toward her one year birthday, I'm reminded daily that having a child is far, far, far better than I ever expected. And demanding and busy and sometimes exhausting. But those times are so small and insignificant in the face of a talking, standing, wobbling, smiling little person who even, others tell you, bears a slight resemblance to you and your dear significant other.



As my lovely friend Betsy would say, I am kooky about this child.