My bags are packed … February 1, 2010

… and I’m ready to go! Pretty much all that’s left at this point is waiting out the next 5 hours or so till we leave for the airport. There are a couple of little things left to do, like print out an itinerary. And a shower for me would be nice, but it won’t be the end of the world if it doesn’t happen. Baby Girl slept a solid 10 hours last night for the first time in … I have no idea when .. and fully loaded her pants this morning. Seems like an auspicious way to start our Big Adventure — on a full night of sleep and an empty colon. (For the baby. I am not ready to discuss my own pooping habits here on the internet. Nipples are one thing, poo is another.)

We’ll get to Australia on Wednesday (their time), and hopefully will see a kangaroo pronto after we get there. In my head, kangaroos freely roam the streets of Brisbane, wearing sunglasses and zinc oxide on their snouts. And there’s shrimp on the barbie everywhere — like hotdog stands here. And dudes with big knives and sunhats, a la Mick Dundee. (It’s SHAMEFUL that my sister has lived in Australia for over 3 years, and my concept of the entire continent is based primarily on a couple of movies and a so-bad-it’s-good reality show.)

I’ll try to post some pictures from Australia, but I might be too busy getting freckles. Apparently Typhoon Olga has made the weather cool off considerably … to 75. SEVENTY-FIVE! So even though it’s “cool” there, that’s a good 50-60 degrees warmer than it is here…. I may never come back. Especially if I’m right about the shrimp on the barbie thing.

Grind January 31, 2010

Salma comes from a long line of night-time teeth grinders. My grandma, dad, sister — all grinders. I have been wearing a guard at night since I was 16, and still manage to grind. So I am fully expecting that at some point we will need to get little missy set up with a bite-guard to protect the soft enamel she will also probably win in the genetic lottery. What I wasn’t expecting, however, is that she would start grinding already. The child has no sooner gotten two teeth (nubbins, really) on the top, than she has started to grind the top and bottom ones together. A lot. All the time. And it’s making us CRAZY. The grinding force is strong in this one. Darren just had the bright idea, though, of giving her a pacifier — and it’s working! She doesn’t suck on the pacifier, but is biting the crap out of it. And not necessarily the right side of it, either, but that’s OK.  The only problem is that she has fully entered the drop-my-toy-so-mama-picks-it-up stage, which means we’re spending a whole lot of time picking up the pacifier. I should probably find one of those pacifier clip thingies before we get on the plane…. And if she screams on the plane, I’ll just tell everyone that it truly is better than listening to her GRIND.

I have been waiting for this day all my life January 28, 2010

(OK, maybe just since the baby came out with girl parts…)

I know she doesn’t have a LOT of hair, but it’s enough for a bow! If only she didn’t have to wear hats all the frickin’ time.

I also have been waiting for this day for quite some time now:

We were out this morning, and since there was a windchill of minus something (Australia in 5 days thank goodness), we were both bundled up within an inch of our lives. I was wearing a ridiculously heavy sweater underneath my big puffy coat, and Salma was, of course, asleep in the Bjorn, which was over my puffy coat. I held out for as long as I could so as not to wake her, but after about 10 minutes I was sweating and angry and HAD TO GET HER OFF MY CHEST RIGHT NOW. She woke up while I was taking her out of the Bjorn, and I laid her on the bed. She laid there with her eyes wide open for about 30 seconds, and then …. she closed her eyes and went back to sleep. No fuss, no jabber, just put herself back to sleep, and has been sleeping peacefully for probably half an hour now. People, this has never happened to me! Of course, I’m stuck sitting on the bed next to her, because the last thing I want is for her to wake up and roll herself off the bed, but still — I’m not overheating and I get to just watch her sleep and it is beeee-yoooo-tiful. Also, she doesn’t have a 5′oclock shadow or dark hair — I’m not sure why the picture makes her look like she does.

And, just for posterity’s sake –a couple of cool things that she’s doing lately … She can now jump in her crib, while holding onto the railing. And we think she has figured out how to instigate peek-a-boo! Yesterday, she hid behind a toy and popped out at Darren, and earlier today, I was washing her squash-covered face, and she grabbed the washcloth, held it up in front of her face, then put it down and started laughing.  Amazing!

In need of your good vibes January 27, 2010

Hello, internets — please help! The baby and I are T-5 from our epic airplane trip, and … guess who has a nasty cold? I’ll give you a hint — it’s NOT the one who knows how to cover her mouth when coughing. She has been an absolute treat today — and if she is like this on Monday, I promise you, I will smuggle some sort of weapon on-board, just in case I need to put myself out of my misery. The trip has the potential to suck a LOT, even with a healthy kiddo.

I know that there are much larger tragedies in the world right now than my kid and her cold, but it feels like an awfully big deal to little old me. So if you have a second to send up a prayer to whatever god you pray to, or a get-well-soon thought in Salma’s direction, it would be very much appreciated.

Week in photos January 24, 2010

It’s been a pretty good week here on the homefront.

More playing naked with laundry baskets — seriously, it never gets old.

Salma really loves her reflection, who we call “Thelma.” She’ll crawl up the the mirror in our bedroom, and — I am not kidding about this — will pretty much make out with her reflection. The whole bottom of the mirror is constantly covered with handprints, snot, and drool from her kissing sessions with Thelma. I’ve been trying to get a good picture of this phenomenon, but have never had the camera handy when she does it. This was the closest I could get.

We went up to Wisconsin today to celebrate cousin Georgia’s first birthday! Judson and Sara have a large, wonderful dog by the name of Greta. Salma loved Greta, maybe a little too much. Our cats never let her get close enough to touch, so I think she was thrilled to have a large furry friend who would let her get up close and personal. Salma got her face properly licked by a dog for the first time, and in return grabbed poor Greta’s fur really, really hard and pulled.  Greta was patient, to a point, but eventually Grabby McGee made the poor doggy unhappy, and the two needed to be split up. At least Thelma is always there for her.

Georgia has a new tooth on the top!

Obligatory cake-in-the-face shot

Salma passed out from all of the excitement… It’s amazing to me how she just will not nap sometimes in her own dark room with her bed and stuffed duck, but as long as one of her parents is close, she can sleep pretty much anywhere else. Or perhaps, she’s just bored by football. That’s my girl — I have done exactly the same thing many times when there’s a game on.

Surprise! January 20, 2010

This is what we’re seeing a lot of these days when she wakes up from a nap …

Additionally, she’s now in a big girl carseat, which is pretty wonderful. She and her puffy bearsuit can both fit in it … and will continue to fit in it for years to come.  In Illinois, at least, she’ll be in a carseat or a booster until she’s EIGHT. Never mind that she will probably be the size of some full-grown women by that point. Also, tooth #3 has just broken the surface of the gum, and #4 is on its way as well. She is so close to not being a baby anymore. Sniff.

And then my brain exploded all over the play mat… January 19, 2010

I was reading Salma a book tonight (not really reading, as it wasn’t a story book, but one of those books with a bunch of pictures and words. Like a photo of a banana, with the word “banana” next to it). Much to my chagrin, as I really hate books with no plot, this is her very favorite book. I generally skip right to the last few pages, since those are the ones with the barnyard and jungle animals, and at least I can make animal sounds to make her laugh. But this time, I picked a page in the middle, titled “PETS.” And I kid you not, she looked at that page, which had pictures of a dog, and a bunny, and a guinea pig and a cat, and she said, “KA,” which is what she says when she sees either of our cats. I turned the page, and she didn’t say anything to that page, and then I turned back to the page with the cat on it, and again, she said “KA.”

Does it count as a real word if it’s not all of the word? If she knows what she’s saying, and has said it deliberately many times, does it count? What do you think?

Week in pictures January 18, 2010

Just some pictures from the last several days. I have already screwed up in my one-a-day goal, but I can promise at least one photo post a week! And in other news, Salma has started to say “Caaaa” when looking at either of the cats. So we’ve got “Hey!” and “Dadadadadada” and half of “cat,” but still no “Mama.” Little stinker.

We went out for coffee last week with the lovely Megan. Salma would like to have dimples like Megan’s.

Also, Salma’s new best friend Nana, a random stranger who walked by our table at the coffee shop. Uncle Judson would probably warn Nana about getting her nose too close to Salma’s chompers…

Salma’s other new best friend, Sophie the squeaky giraffe. Thanks, Aunt Liz! Also, any of you Wisconsonites out there recognize the badger in the background? It plays “On Wisconsin” when you smack its booty. Salma likes.

She has reached new levels of crusty. This girl does nothing half-heartedly, including putting snot all over her face

What? Don’t tell me you’ve never gotten naked and played in a hamper before. Darren was very happy that the towels he had just pulled out of the laundry remained unscathed.

I kind of want to frame this one and hang it in the bathroom… She has started trying to climb out of the bathtub. Luckily, she’s too short.

She jumps! Oh, does she jump. January 17, 2010

It took the baby a while to figure out the jumperoo, but in the last several weeks, she has mastered it. Tonight, she jumped long enough to let me make a somewhat complicated dinner, and wore her little self right out…

Remembering January 15, 2010

My dad, Roger, died two years ago today. And I’m really feeling it today, more than I did on this day last year. Last year, I was pregnant, too preoccupied by the life growing within me to feel sad. And I tried not to concentrate on sadness while I was pregnant, because I didn’t want it to filter down to the baby. But this year, it’s hitting me hard, and I’m letting myself grieve. Somehow, two years feels more final than one. My life is completely and utterly different than it was the day my dad died — and it pains me that he has never seen the reason. I miss so many things about him — his whole-faced smile, his generous spirit, the childlike pleasure that he took in small things like ice cream, hearing his voice lifted in song, his kindness to every person he met, his humility, his love for his family above all else, his integrity, and his twinkly eyes. But I’m also desperately missing him for Salma’s sake. I know that he would have delighted in this girl, his granddaughter, and it makes me so sad to think that she will never know him and that he will never know her. Because I think they really would have liked each other — and their combined smile wattage could have powered a small city.