1 Year Checkup

Eva had her 1 year old checkup today.  She received 4 vaccinations and handled it like a champ.  She screamed for a few minutes then smiled at the Dr. on our way out.  Bless her little heart.  Her stats:

• Weight: 23 lbs, 8 oz. (90th percentile)
• Height: 31 1/4 inches  (97th percentile)
• Head Circumference: 45 cm (50th percentile)

She is right on par with all of the benchmarks and the Dr. said that Eva was a wonderfully well-behaved patient.  Eva babbled throughout the examination and then started to dance when the Dr. lifted Eva up to see her stand.  It was really cute.

I'm glad she's healthy and happy.  Her personality is really starting to come out and she loves to socialize.  I'm excited for our trip home for Thanksgiving because I think she will be a lot more friendly towards my family.  She's just the cutest little thing you've ever seen.  (Completely unbiased opinion.)  

    

1st Birthday

My baby turned 1 on Sunday, October 27th.  I was really sad all week leading up to it, but once Sunday arrived, I was fine.  I can’t believe it’s been an entire year.  Everything about my pregnancy and Eva's birth went perfectly.  I loved every part of it.  I especially will cherish that my sister was the one who delivered Eva.  It was a very special experience for both of us.

And now my baby is 1.  I always knew that if I ever had a child, he or she would spend the 1st birthday on my parents’ kitchen table tearing into a cake.  It was a little bittersweet to have her sitting on my own table without family around.  However, I did invite the three friends I spend the most time with to come over and it was a wonderful evening.  We ate dinner, the kids ran around screaming, and I really felt like I was with my family.  No one grabbed my butt or turned the conversation to an inappropriate topic, but still, I wasn’t lonely or sad.  It sincerely felt like a celebration.  And the food was delicious.

Eva wasn’t terribly interested in eating her cake.  She did fling frosting all over the dining room but that was about it.  Looking back, I shouldn't have given her dinner.  Just cake.  Huge error on my part.  Some photos for your enjoyment:

I’m not sure why she’s King-Konging the cake here.

  She kept flinging the frosting then clapping like she was amazing.

Sugar coma kicking in.

Only superficial damage to the cake.

We bought her a few presents but she wasn’t interested in them at all.  We opened them up and she immediately crawled away to chew on a paper cup.  I could have saved myself $30.  Another error on my part.

Here she is looking for the cup that is behind her.  What a marvelous toy.

It has been such a joyful year having her in our family.  It’s amazing to watch her grow and develop and I’m certainly grateful that I have her.

Happy Birthday, Eva!

Halloween Party

Michael and I were invited to an adults only Halloween costume party on Saturday.  I’ve never been to such an event and it was a lot of fun.  I ate my weight in hors d'oeuvres, I socialized AND our babysitter only charged us $10 since Eva was already in bed and she felt guilty taking money.  She didn’t want to take anything but I made her split the difference with me.

The costumes were quite elaborate.  I didn’t realize these people would be so serious about dressing up.  I scrounged my stewardess costume from a few years ago and Myke was Richard Simmons.  Our babysitter asked him who he was and when he answered, “Richard Simmons,” she replied, “Who’s that?”  We’ve crossed over into old people land where the young whippersnappers don’t speak our language.

Next year I’ll be more prepared in the costume department.  There were prizes for different categories and I really wanted to win one of those candy prizes.  Sugar Babies taste so much better when they’re free.  But we didn’t win.  Not by a long shot.

Even so, it was a good night. 

Blankey

My dad gave me a Boise State throw blanket a few years ago. It's my favorite blanket and I use it whenever I watch TV, (17 hours a day) and to keep me warm in our freezing cold house. Michael insists on setting the thermostat to -26.

It's in the wash right now and I'm feeling some separation anxiety.  I'm cold despite the sweater I'm wearing and I need to wrap up in my blankey. 

Is it acceptable to sit in front of the dryer until it's done?

A Riddle

My dog sleeps on the floor outside our bedroom door.  He has a bed in the guestroom but he refuses to sleep in there.  Every morning I get up while it’s still dark outside to workout.  Every morning I have to step over the dog and hope he doesn’t trip me in my stupor.  I run on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.  I take Aika with me on those days.  The other days I go to the YMCA.  Here’s the riddle:

Every morning I come out of my room dressed in workout clothes.  I exit the bedroom at 5:05 on the days I go to the Y, and 5:20 on the days I run.  I never speak to Aika since I am a grouch that early.  On the days I’m going to the Y, he doesn’t move from his spot.  He doesn’t even lift his head to look at me.  Some mornings I wonder if he is dead.  On the days I’m running, he jumps up from his spot and whines and jumps and twirls.  He races down the stairs ahead of me and runs around in circles while I put my shoes on. 

How does he know what day it is?

I wonder if he has a day planner somewhere in his room with the running days circled in red.  Maybe he stores it under his bed with his Victoria Secret catalogs.  Maybe he uses Google calendar from my computer during the night.  I wish I could find his schedule.  I’m pretty sure the running days are outlined like this:

• Wake up and lick genitals.  Wait for Mom to come out of her room then writhe around like I have rabies.  Stomp on her feet multiple times and drool all over her pants.
• Run.  Stop at inconvenient times to urinate even though I’ve already completely emptied my bladder.  Occasionally get tangled in the leash.
• Come home.  Drink feverishly from my bowl to splash the maximum amount of water onto the floor.  Go to the toilet for seconds.  Pant and drool.
• Nap in the middle of the kitchen floor.
• See what Eva is having for lunch and steal it from her hands. 
• Nap in the middle of the living room floor.
• Put my nose on the window to leave streak marks while looking for non-existent squirrels and cats.
• Beg for chicken scraps while Mom makes dinner.
• Hit the sack early.

I think I’d rather be Aika.

Sicko

My daughter is disgusting.  She eats wood chips at the playground, dog food and dirt.  She poops her pants and drools.  Her newest obsession?  The toilet.  It’s a great moment for her when I forget to put the lid down. 

 

She splashes around like it’s a waterpark. 

It completely grosses me out. 

Karma

I decided after the Pilates class a couple of weeks ago that I should probably keep attending because it would be good for my flexibility.  Right now I don’t have any.  I can’t touch my toes without bending my knees.  It’s always been this way.  We had to do the Sit and Reach in school and I never even reached to the numbers on the little box.  My teachers were always appalled.  (This was just one of the many reasons.  I’ve never done a pull-up either.  I’m pathetic.)

Yesterday at the class I nearly tooted on the roll-up move; the exact move that elicited the stranger’s flatulence the first time I attended.  Worse yet, we did a new move where we scrunched up into a ball and rolled down onto our backs then rolled up again.  I could feel the rumblings in my belly and desperately tried not to squeeze one out.  It was like attempting to smother Old Faithful with a tube sock.  The Heckler has become the Hecklee.   

Karma really is a #!@*%!

Come and Get Me

Eva climbs the stairs now.  She is very stealthy about it.  Suddenly I will look up and she is gone.  Today we were on our way out the door when she disappeared.  I chased after her and she thought it was hilarious.

She was halfway up the staircase by the time I arrived. 

She briefly stopped to admire how far she had traveled.          

Then took off when I tried to pick her up.

She was indignant at the suggestion that she should quit climbing.

Then celebrated her victory by taunting me.

She clearly doesn’t respect my authority.  I’m losing my bossy edge.

Short Weekend

I have been excited for months about meeting up with my sister this past weekend.  She was going to be in Pasco for a gathering with her in-laws so we drove over to spend the weekend with her.  I had a really nice time.  Being with my family brings me peace. 

We didn’t do anything particularly exciting; we swam in the hotel pool, we ate delicious Mexican food, we sat around and talked, but it was perfect.  The only problem was that it was far too short.  I wish we could have stayed together longer.  It makes me super excited for Thanksgiving and the chance to meet up again.

I’m a big dweeb and didn’t take any pictures.  I only have these two:

Here’s Eva in the hotel getting ready to swim.  Her swimsuit was far too small but that’s what she gets for being a chunk. 

 

Here we are on the way home when we stopped to stretch our legs at Lewis and Clark State Park.  My eyes are swollen because I cried like a baby after my sister left me.  It’s just something I do.

I also managed to eat almost an entire bag of miniature candy bars by myself during the drive.  That is also something I do.   

Generosity

Eva is learning how to share.

And Aika is reaping the reward. 

Who doesn’t love Goldfish?

Apple Orchard

I picked twenty pounds of apples today.  I picked Fuji and Jonagold and Red Rome varieties.  You might be asking yourself, “What is she going to do with all of those apples?”

I don’t know!  But they were only ten bucks!

Showtime

All she’s missing is a box of Raisinets and some popcorn.

Kudos

I have to give some major attention to my little sister, Chris.  She has lost 100 pounds!  Chris was my inspiration for deciding to finally get serious about losing the baby weight, and I am so grateful for her example.  Talk about hard work.  What an amazing accomplishment.

Here’s a picture of her before:

 

Here she is now:

A big CONGRATULATIONS to her!

Cha-Ching!

Michael returned home from Texas late last night.  (Actually it was early this morning.  I watched three movies waiting for him but that’s another story.)  It was a company-wide tech conference and he was nominated by his coworkers to represent the development team from Oregon.  There was a competition portion of the conference that Michael competed in.  There were nine teams of four, each team made up of a designer, a junior developer, a senior developer and an administrative position.  Michael was the senior developer on his team.  His other team members were from Colorado, Utah and Arkansas.

They had four tasks to work on:

• Design challenge
• Security challenge
• Development challenge
• Enterprise challenge

Michael was in charge of the security portion but ended up giving the junior developer the idea for their approach for the development portion as well.

Their team did very well.  They won 1st place overall:

They won the award for best teamwork:

And best of all, Michael won the individual award for his security implementation.  He was the only member of his team who won his individual portion.

Total prize money: $225

I am so proud of him!  It was really good for Michael to be among his peers and realize that he is talented and valuable to the company. 

Now I’m making him take me to lunch with his winnings.  Seems fair.

Immaturity

I went to a Pilates class yesterday with a friend.  I’m not really into that one-with-the-earth kind of New Age lifestyle but it was a good way to kill an hour.  Pilates focuses on the core with some stretching exercises thrown in.  One of the moves was basically a sit-up but you had to do it with your arms straight out in front of you.  You were supposed to lie completely straight with your arms stretched out over your head and then lift your body up into a sitting position while keeping your hips on the mat. 

The room was dim, the instructor was speaking very softly and there was gentle music playing in the background.  It was supposed to be very peaceful.  However, the woman next to me was really struggling with this move and would grunt while she propelled herself up.  She never really made it completely into the sitting position but she sure was trying.  On the last one she gave it all she had.  As she flung herself forward, out came a giant flatulence.  It echoed through the entire room.  I immediately started laughing because I come from a long line of ancestors who think farts are funny.  It’s a genetic trait.  I looked over at my friend to get a good laugh with her about the fog horn next to me, and I was appalled at what I saw.  She was just lying there with her eyes closed, breathing deeply and focusing on the exercises.  I couldn’t believe it!  I scanned the faces of everyone in my vicinity and they were all very Zen and completely ignoring the fact that this woman rolled onto a bullfrog.  I laid there on my mat and discretely snickered all alone.  Why was I the only one laughing?

Because I’m immature.   

Inappropriate

Our shower door is transparent glass.  There's something very disturbing about showering while a baby and a dog look on.  They even pressed their faces against the glass this morning.  I had to prop the door shut with my foot because their weight kept pushing the door open.  It was a very awkward shower.

I’m pretty sure I’m only marginally clean today.  Good thing I’m sleeping alone this week.  (Or am I…)