Happy (Belated) Earth Day!

Yesterday, our little community held its Earth Day celebration, a tad belatedly. As Matthew, good man that he is, stayed home to tend to our bit of earth and mow the yard, Dory, Mama P and I went.



Dory started here but after a wee bit of fussing...



...moved to here.



The day was gorgeous, the sun blazing over head and immediately I realized we might have a small issue, i.e. sun + anyone in my gene pool= Trouble. As Dory is not a fan of hats...



... except for waving them around, this can be problematic.

But help was only a few booths away! Supermama Kristy (mother and proprietor of Zoonique Baby, a truly wonderful local cloth diaper store) came to our rescue. Wielding a bottle of baby sunscreen, she let us lather Dory up. Once Little One was safely covered in this natural lotion (and smelling quite lovely) I could turn my attention to the delectable cloth diaper display. (Sidenote: we cloth diaper, Matthew and I are huge fans, and one day I will write more about this and all its fantastic elements. For now, I'll show you that cloth diapering is not only...



... economical and environmentally green, but also incredibly fun, particularly when dealing with a store like Zoonique that has an absolute riot of prints, colors, patterns and styles.)





How beautiful is that display? You can't even take it all in can you? Besides many varities of cloth diapers that she makes herself (and that we love- we're a big fan of her fitteds), she makes bibs, wet bags, burp cloths, shoes... the woman is a zenith in the cloth diaper field. And she's here, in East Tennessee. How cool is that?!

There were many, many groups, many, many vendors and many, many people there, along with some pretty cool bands.







But once Dory started to look like this...



we headed home. She slept on the walk back to the car, slept through the transfer to the car seat, slept the five minute drive home... Wee One was wiped OUT. The adults, admittedly, were looking a bit sluggish too. Everyone was ready for a nap and already I had plans of climbing back into bed, cuddling up with Miss Girl and having a long, leisurely rest...

Except...



...what the...



is she...


wide awake?

I don't know how it happened, but after two hours in all that noisy, interesting chaos and a five minute sleep in the car, she woke up refreshed and ready to get going. There were no naps in Adultland that day.

Even with that said, it was a very good day here in the Mojo household.

Also, it's important to mention, besides taking care of the lawn, Matthew vacuumed the house, did laundry, put away diapers and was still ready to crack open a beer and turn on the NFL draft at four. That, in my opinion, is a Man's Man.  Thinking back on that, I would have to upgrade yesterday to a great Mojo day.

A Day at the Park

I'm sure I was told it, but I really didn't realize how motherhood can prepare you for anything. I knew about the physical preaparation; I'd heard enough friends laugh about "everything but the kitchen sink" when they went out. I fell right in step with that and, if you happen to be out with me during the day, there isn't much you might want that I couldn't provide. Stacks of diapers, toys, change of clothes, more toys, bottles of water for Mom, small diaper bag, more toys, snacks for Mom, big diaper bag as back-up, and on and on- most of the time, I feel about as prepared as one woman can be.

However, I didn't realize how much being a parent would mentally prepare me for anything. One more wonderful revelation since Dory's birth: my priorities are straighter than ever. We have a healthy family, a particularly healthy daughter and everything after that is the proverbial icing on the cake.

When Matthew came home, almost eight weeks ago, and announced his company had closed all their offices in the U.S., I realized I wasn't panicked. A year ago, I would have taken the news much like Dory responded to the baby swing at the park:



But I felt a little more like her when we first got out of the car at the park:



And as Matthew explained about his generous severance package, about our extended health benefits, and even his hope to go back to school and get his teaching degree, I felt exactly like Dory feels pretty much all the time:







I did my quick mental run down: Dory well and happy? Check. Matthew and I well and happy? Check.

It was hard to worry after that. There's uncertainity right now, but I can see change as being something interesting, something welcome. Matthew's job had not been something he enjoyed in a long time, though I believe he brought excellence to the day-to-day difficulty. Still, the loss was not a loss at all and this was not a sad day for us. Change came at the best possible time, in the softest possible way.

In fact, excitement crept into the house, slipping in through the open doors and windows, the feeling of possibility blowing in with the the fresh spring breezes. What an opportunity for us as a family! Matthew's been home to see this time of explosive growth in Dory, as she moved from sitting, to rolling, to cheerful chattering and almost, any day now crawling. We've been on the go ever since, taking advantage of beautiful weather, free time and our enjoyment of each other. Matthew particularly appreciates this time he has with his girl.



He's working out what he wants to do next and we're all getting excited about what the future holds. When Dory was born I felt, so clearly, that anything is possible. Here we are, in the season of her first spring, and I feel even more deliciously hopeful about our future.

Updates Coming!

That's probably not fair, to make an entire post just to say "I'll be posting again soon." But I've been looking for this one particular camera wire, this one pesky wire that does the small job of taking the pictures off my camera and putting them on my laptop. I've searched for this wire for weeks now. I knew there were probably three places it would be and I looked those three places over and over again without success. Which meant I wasn't surprised when I discovered in a bag of knitting. Tah-dah!

So pictures and updates coming soon!

Adventures in Solids

We were into mush on Valentine's Day, but ours was of the apple variety. The Friday before V-Day, I put our girl in my fantastic new Kozy carrier (ordered from a great little store McKinley Kidz), got out the instruction manual to our fabulous Beaba baby food maker (thanks to Matthew's grandmother for that little gem!) and after a little reading...



I steamed and pureed an organic Golden Delicious for Dory's first solid food.



The next day we took turns feeding this wholesome and tasty snack to our little one...




She was not a fan...


Neither of us knew what to expect, but I can tell you, neither of us expected that. Little One was a hoot; she actually shuddered at the first spoonful then pulled the most awful face. Organic, steamed and pureed apple to her was clearly grown-up speak for "disgusting muck often found on the bottom of one's tennis shoe."

Back to the baby cook book for mama!

Hello Dory!

Will there ever be a time I'm not marveling at the change in her? Dory's growth seems to be moving at warp speed these days. I realize I owe the blog (and especially her Grandma Cindy and Granny the Great!) some updates on the girl.

She's ready for kindergarten. Or that's how it feels. The changes in even the last month are astonishing. At the moment, sitting is our big preoccupation. She seems seconds away from sitting up on her own. Not, mind you, lifting herself to a sitting position, though everyday she lifts her head and feet, working those belly muscles and doing one fine Boat Pose, for anyone who speaks Yoga-ease out there. However, if you prop her into a sitting position she can maintain it for several seconds before doing a graceful swan dive forward that causes both parents to lunge torwards with hands outstretched (any day now we're going to knock heads like the most absurd Three Stooges episode). Usually she catches herself with her hands, but we put her in soft places. Just to be cautious.

However cautious we might be, Danger does seem to be her second name. OK, maybe not Danger. How about Curious? Curious Dory. She watches everything. All the time. No more sleeping in the Moby or the baby backpack for this girl (except, at this very moment, when she does have her little head resting against my chest and she's sound asleep- if nothing else, if nothing else, this is payment in full for parenting, moments like these). If we're at a store, around the house, at a grandparent's, she's watching, looking, noticing... Oh, and trying to put it in her mouth.

The mouth. Who knew what an exciting place that was for a baby? Well, every parent who's come before me. And now I've joined that ever-watchful group. Because anything she comes near- toys, teething rings, books, car keys, etc.- her mouth pulls open and her head goes towards it, like there's an invisible force pulling her forward and she cannot not do it.  The Force for babies.   We ate out last night and the urgency with which she pulled herself to the table suggested if I would just let her at it, she'd have that whole thing between those baby gums.

Speaking of gums, no teeth yet. But we're close. Much like we're so close to her sitting unassisted, I think we're so close (as measured in baby time- could be minutes, could be weeks) from her cutting her first teeth. This is (as you can imagine) not her favorite thing. Some days are chewier than others, but really she copes well. And if I would just give her the remote and my cell phone to chomp, she'd be set.

And, as always, she's a big part of history. Here are a couple shots of her on the day of the Inauguration.


Dory and Daddy that night- check out the beard, Texas family!


Dory and her Obama-Mama, moments before he was sworn in.

Obama says Yes We Can and I believe him. Dory says Yes We Can... Put That in Our Mouths and I believe her too.

Dorothy

It's taken a little time to get back to post. Dory and I are home from Missouri.

Dorothy, our little Dorothy's great-grandmother, passed away Tuesday, the sixth. I don't know what to say about that. She was eighty-eight when she passed, and, though the last few days were painful, most of that eighty-eight years was of great health, vitality, and spirit. In fact, if there were one word I would use about my grandmother, my Mammar as all us grandchildren called her, it would be spirit. She had a remarkable attitude, lively and kind, generous and loving. All of that is true, but it feels so flat on the page. I don't know how to evoke her spirit here.

I know, we named Dory after a great woman. I know, in the last few weeks, I've never been more pleased that our daughter carries on the name of my strong, bright, passionate grandmother. But it still feels flat. I would like to write about her, to honor her in some way, but at the moment, it still feels too new and too hard.

For now, here is a picture of her namesake, a picture I think Mammar would have loved.

Updates

Just a quick post to let everyone know, Dory and I might be gone from the blog longer than usual. We're in Missouri, with family. My grandmother, Dorothy the First, is not well. Dorothy the Second, my mother (Mama P) and I are staying with my aunt and uncle to do what we can to take care of her. So there might not be any Dory tidings for a few more days. But she's well and happy and doing remarkably well for a baby who spent eleven hours in the car yesterday. Until we can bring you cheerier tidings, I'll leave you with Dory playing Santa a few days before Christmas. Happy New Year.