Saturday, December 15, 2007 &
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Once again the parents rented the heavy duty equipment for a special photo shoot of the Little Princess. Me thinkest she has memories of the last one or she’s still brewing over the Santa Photo Shoot last Thursday. She does not like photo shoots anymore.
We were invited to come early Saturday afternoon for this photo shoot. (We were baby-sitting later that night so Mommy and Daddy could go partying! Really an office party for Mommy so they were going to get some pictures earlier in the afternoon and we were to assist in keeping her occupied when needed.) Little Princess had a nice long nap so she should have been rested up, but apparently she heard the conversation between her mommy and daddy and decided she would not cooperate at all!
Mommy wanted some really cute pictures of her wearing the little dress that mommy’s grandmother had made especially for her when she was little. It was a pretty little green velvet dress with a matching coat, and since it had sentimental attachments it would have been nice if Little Princess had been in a better mood. Perhaps it conjured up memories of wearing that dress on Thursday’s visit with Santa.
She was anywhere and everywhere except where she was placed for the photo shoot. She even tried running into the background equipment and bumping her noggin. Maybe a knot on the head would stop this foolishness, but alas, it wasn’t to be a discouragement to her mommy at all. The equipment had been rented; the pictures would be made!
Little Princess even tried falling off the little white chair and scraping her little knee and leg. Maybe that would help; any bruises showing surely would be a reason to stop. But it didn’t work. The camera kept clicking. The lights kept flashing.
She had already tried to bust her lip on at least two different occasions, nothing. What’s a girl to do but cry when she’s frustrated with all those camera lights flashing constantly in her pretty blue eyes. But even though temporarily blinded, somehow she would still manage to escape.
Try again for pictures with the little white chair mentioned earlier in my posts. She does love that little chair, maybe because she loves to climb so much. She climbs in every direction and there were a few good shots of her in her little red and white checked Christmas dress Mommy had found on e-bay. It was smocked and had Ho, Ho, Ho embroidered on the top of it. I think there was maybe a Santa embroidered on it, also.
Bring out the candy canes for background effects. Hmm, those look awfully tasty. She managed to figure out a way to get the tightly covered candy canes loose from their cellophane wrappers. Then it was candy cane sticky all over the backdrop, The Little Princess, mommy, daddy and anything and everything in sight.
In comes the clean-up squad. Out comes the diaper wipes. We must get those sticky candy canes off the backdrop, off the baby, off the clothes and off the carpet before they become permanent. And then it was once again back to the picture taking.
Daddy, change your shirt, please. A few more pictures here and there of mommy, daddy and The Little Princess. Daddy feels comfortable changing back into his “work clothes” to continue the shoot. Daddy, do you mind changing your shirt again to get more pictures. Back to the work clothes. Please, Daddy, just one more time with the three of us. I thought he would wear the buttons off that shirt changing back and force. But he did it without too much complaining. After all, he said at the beginning this was Mommy’s night. He would do what she asked. I don’t think so, Daddy, this was definitely The Little Princesses’ night, but I think you probably still got a lot of really adorable pictures. Maybe at least two or three out of the hundreds you took. That’s just the way it goes with an almost 14 month old. She’s become a bit more independent, and that’s not all bad.
And what was their reply when we suggested getting pictures of just the two of them?
"Oh no, it's just not the same without Little Princess in them! She's our family, now." In just a blink of the eye one tiny little being can enter our lives and it's never the same again. Not for any of us! And we're so blessed!
Sunday’s shoot…
Went much the same as Saturdays, only with Daddy missing. He had served his time yesterday and deserved a day off, so it was Mommy, Granddaddy, Grandmomma and The Little Princess.
Into that adorable little pink dress mommy had picked out for her to wear. She wasn’t quite as tired as last night, but she wasn’t in the most cooperative mood, either. I think her patience was limited to one dress today, so that eliminated a few problems for the Little Princess. Those wardrobe changes can be irritating after a while.
How about a shoot with Grandmomma’s new tea set? That sounds like a great idea! We set it up and made sure The Little Princess was properly seated, without her dress hiked over her head, and with Teddy there as her special guest. That worked for a while, then someone (I won’t name names) upset the apple cart, I mean the tea set. All the saucers, cups, teapot, spoons, cream pitcher, sugar dish, and anything left remaining on the table flew in several different directions, leaving poor Teddy all alone and sprawled over the floor in a pitiful heap.
Granddaddy had an idea. Maybe The Little Princess would like some animal crackers for her tea party. The Little Princess thought that was an excellent idea…as long as she could have the cookies anywhere except on the saucers provided. Oops, what are those brown spots on the white backdrop? Hmmm, looks like somebody raked some animal cookies right over it when she fell! (It’s very difficult keeping your balance when you’re trying to walk or sit just as near the back of the backdrop as you can, so you can understand a fall every now and then.)
But,nevertheless, out come the wipes….spot clean here, spot clean there, routine all over again. (Oh, and did I mentioned there are to be NO SHOES on the backdrop except for The Little Princesses’. Hers are fine, just no adult ones!)
It was a fairly short session today, although I’m quite sure The Little Princess would argue with that statement. To her it was just as long as the one yesterday, and the adults would learn one thing. She will only allow herself to be photographed for so long, and then it’s bye bye!
Sunday – December 16, 2007 - Part II.
After the lights were cut off and the photo shoot officially ended, Mommy decided The Little Princess needed a nap. Yep, she certainly did need a nap! So she spends some time getting her to sleep, finally. Grandmomma then suggested maybe her mommy and Granddaddy might want to do some running around they needed to do and she would stay home with The Little Princess since the weather has finally gotten to be just a little more like winter than we’ve had for a while now. Well, really a lot more like winter.
Two and one half hours later Mommy calls to see how things are going with Grandmomma and The Little Princess. All was well. She had been asleep the entire time they were gone. Did she want me to wake her and make sure she was alright? No, definitely not! Just to be on the safe side, I stood outside her door and listened for any strange noises, but there were none, so I went back to what I had been doing until she called again. This time I decided maybe I should get her food partially ready because she would be starving when she woke up. Then I stood outside her door once again, expecting to hear nothing. This time I heard her talking to herself, Teddy and baby doll, Carly, and other creatures in the crib, so I opened the door, went in and rescued her from that bad old bed.
We sat so she could see her Mommy when she drove up. I told her they were on their way home and we would watch for them. She saw them when they pulled into the driveway. She recognized the car and knew it was her Mommy. She smiled and was so excited and chatted away!
Later in the afternoon Mommy, Granddaddy and I were all needed to move a package or two into the house, so The Little Princess had to be confined to her crib for a short time. Mommy really wanted me to put her there because she didn’t want to be the bad guy, but I didn’t want to, so Mommy had to put her in the bed. The Little Princess was not happy. She took exception to that. She knew she had already had her nap, and she didn’t need another, so she screamed as loud as she could. We could hear her outside. The neighbors probably thought we were killing the child. She was perfectly happy as soon as we rescued her.
She thought it would be fun to help Mommy and Granddaddy as they tried to figure out how to wrap this gi-gi-ga-nenormous package. I thought it would be more fun to watch them figure it out, and take pictures.
The thing that amazes me is, here are two people who are math geniuses and the obvious way to wrap a package doesn’t occur to them. I, who absolutely stink at math, had to suggest the proper way to wrap it! But it was fun watching them tax their brains trying to solve such a simple problem.
These are the same two people who, if you ask them how much something costs that is 60% off, will give you the total runaround and take five hundred steps to come to an answer while I, who, as I said, stink at math, can have the price figured out in a few seconds compared to their method.
I try not to ask them for help with the simple things, because they can’t handle it. But anyway, back to the story…They finally listened to me and got the package wrapped, but not without the help of The Little Princess who was constantly grabbing the tape, moving the paper, and climbing on top of the other unwrapped package.
One funny thing I observed during all this fun time…The Little Princess goes over to a drawer in one of the tables. She looks at it, and immediately starts shaking her sweet little head from side to side. She knew she wasn’t supposed to pull that drawer out, but temptation was getting the better of her because she wanted to so bad. She finally just walked away, but you knew from watching at her, that was a forbidden drawer. And according to her mommy, it was. Maybe this is just the beginning of developing a little conscience. Oh, come on, it has to start somewhere, doesn’t it?
To add to the excitement of the afternoon, The Little Princesses’ daddy decided he would come home and pick up her and her mommy so they could meet with some other people and have dinner tonight. That was not acceptable because Mommy, Granddaddy and The Little Princess were still working on the first big package and didn’t even have the second package started. Daddy was forced to stay outside until they finished. That’s what he gets for coming home early and messing up Mommy’s plans!
As a footnote to this, Granddaddy was holding The Little Princess up to the window in the door when her Daddy came up. He says he heard her say, "Dares Da-da!"
The Little Princess also was very helpful to me when I decided I would help her Mommy by unloading the dishwasher. We didn’t lose a single piece of that expensive dinnerware on that hard granite floor, or while trying to grab it before it was tossed onto the floor. Not one single piece. At least not this time.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Visit to Santa Part 2
December 13, 2007
The Little Princess had a complete change of personality once we left Santa. She was a totally different child once we left his sight. She and I walked around the Santa zone and looked at the fun backgrounds and talked about them for a while. Mommy went back to the car to get her stroller so she could ride in it later. Daddy had to go back to work.
The Little Princess, Granddaddy and I stopped for a few pictures at the Mailbox for Santa’s letters. She also loved climbing up onto the seat and the desk used for writing those letters to Santa. She is so funny watching her climb. She throws that leg up high with every intention of accomplishing that climb no matter how high. She really loved playing on that bench. I was so afraid she would fall and hurt herself just in time for pictures this week end.
When mommy got back she decided The Little Princess needed to be rewarded for her behavior. Mommy was really expecting Little Princess to be on much better behavior than had happened earlier in the day, but still I think Mommy had worked her taste buds up for an ice cream treat, so off to find Dairy Queen for an ice cream treat.
She welcomed the ice cream treat (a blizzard) and ate quite a bit of it. Of course, we all knew she hadn’t really earned it with her bad behavior with Santa. But since she’s worth it, we forgave her.
She was really beginning to feel so much better and really got wound up. She would flash those beautiful dimples and smile and laugh at almost everything. All afternoon.
We even took her with us when we went to Costco to have her pictures developed.
While we were waiting for the pictures to be developed, I thought it would be fun to ask her if she wanted to go see Santa again. There was almost a look of horror on her little face as she studied my face to see if I was serious. But she recovered. She knew I was only teasing.
During our tour of Costco we came across a cute baby doll. She loved it. I held it so she could see it and we talked about her. She immediately saw the baby also had a teddy bear of her own. It was a really cute little doll set. Hmmm, wonder if I really need another doll at my house?
Back at the house I pulled out a Pin Art toy I had bought years earlier for the boys to play with. You put your hand or any item on top of it, flip it over and little pins drop down making an impression of whatever you have put on it.
I loved watching her while she turned her head this way and that way trying to figure out how those pins could drop from one side to the other and make the design. It was a little tilt here and a little tilt there peeking inside the best she could. I wonder what she will be years from now. She's so inquisitive.
Her daddy came over after his photography class and visited with her and us. She would have bedtime by the time they got home so this gave him some time with her.
She is such a clown. She threw that leg up and started crawling up on top of me while I was sitting holding her. It's hard to describe, but it was as though she thought I was a mountain or something to climb one step at a time.
You never would have known the "trauma" she experienced earlier with Santa. Or, maybe we should say her determination not to visit with Santa. All I can say is, "Little Princess, You'd better watch out, you'd better not cry, you'd better not pout, I'm telling you why, Santa Claus is coming to town...whether you want him to or not!"
The Little Princess had a complete change of personality once we left Santa. She was a totally different child once we left his sight. She and I walked around the Santa zone and looked at the fun backgrounds and talked about them for a while. Mommy went back to the car to get her stroller so she could ride in it later. Daddy had to go back to work.
The Little Princess, Granddaddy and I stopped for a few pictures at the Mailbox for Santa’s letters. She also loved climbing up onto the seat and the desk used for writing those letters to Santa. She is so funny watching her climb. She throws that leg up high with every intention of accomplishing that climb no matter how high. She really loved playing on that bench. I was so afraid she would fall and hurt herself just in time for pictures this week end.
When mommy got back she decided The Little Princess needed to be rewarded for her behavior. Mommy was really expecting Little Princess to be on much better behavior than had happened earlier in the day, but still I think Mommy had worked her taste buds up for an ice cream treat, so off to find Dairy Queen for an ice cream treat.
She welcomed the ice cream treat (a blizzard) and ate quite a bit of it. Of course, we all knew she hadn’t really earned it with her bad behavior with Santa. But since she’s worth it, we forgave her.
She was really beginning to feel so much better and really got wound up. She would flash those beautiful dimples and smile and laugh at almost everything. All afternoon.
We even took her with us when we went to Costco to have her pictures developed.
While we were waiting for the pictures to be developed, I thought it would be fun to ask her if she wanted to go see Santa again. There was almost a look of horror on her little face as she studied my face to see if I was serious. But she recovered. She knew I was only teasing.
During our tour of Costco we came across a cute baby doll. She loved it. I held it so she could see it and we talked about her. She immediately saw the baby also had a teddy bear of her own. It was a really cute little doll set. Hmmm, wonder if I really need another doll at my house?
Back at the house I pulled out a Pin Art toy I had bought years earlier for the boys to play with. You put your hand or any item on top of it, flip it over and little pins drop down making an impression of whatever you have put on it.
I loved watching her while she turned her head this way and that way trying to figure out how those pins could drop from one side to the other and make the design. It was a little tilt here and a little tilt there peeking inside the best she could. I wonder what she will be years from now. She's so inquisitive.
Her daddy came over after his photography class and visited with her and us. She would have bedtime by the time they got home so this gave him some time with her.
She is such a clown. She threw that leg up and started crawling up on top of me while I was sitting holding her. It's hard to describe, but it was as though she thought I was a mountain or something to climb one step at a time.
You never would have known the "trauma" she experienced earlier with Santa. Or, maybe we should say her determination not to visit with Santa. All I can say is, "Little Princess, You'd better watch out, you'd better not cry, you'd better not pout, I'm telling you why, Santa Claus is coming to town...whether you want him to or not!"
Thursday, December 13, 2007
History repeats itself 27 years later...
They say history repeats itself and I have to agree, it really does. Now 27 years later, short by two days we watched as our little almost 14 month old granddaughter protested loudly at the thought of sitting in Santa's lap. Just as her Mommy did on December 15, 1980.
Mommy had dressed her in a pretty little green velvet dress that had a matching coat, that her Granddaddy's Mother, and the Little Princesses' Great-grandmother, had made for her Mommy when she was around the same age as the Little Princess. Mommy was probably a few months older the year she wore the little dress in the winter.
She looked like a little doll in her little short dress and a picture with Santa would be just the thing we had all looked forward to. Last year she had been perfectly wonderful, but she was only two months old then.
She decided at the very beginning she was having nothing to do with Santa. She started out a bit grumpy with everybody because everybody was trying to make her part with bunny. First Mommy, then Daddy, then Grandmomma and last of all Granddaddy. Enough was enough and she headed straight into a melt down.
She decided she would be totally uncooperative. As soon as Mommy headed toward Santa she broke down in tears. Daddy managed to get a few pictures and Granddaddy managed to get some, but Santa's helpers were not getting any this time. So Mommy and Daddy decided they needed to give her a few minutes to control her little emotions before moving on to more attempts. She walked around the mall area nearby for a little while, then Mommy wanted her to come stand with her. That didn't suit the Little Princess at all. She pretty much had her mommy figured out. They thought if she watched the other kids go up and not cry, she would be able to handle it better, but that didn't work at all.
She cried, she protested, she made it clear she didn't want to be around Santa today. Mommy even sat on the bench with Santa, a few pictures of the screaming little girl and then Daddy joined them. It was still a no-go for her, even though they all three had their pictures made with Santa.
Mommy and Daddy bought the DVD with all rights to have anything printed. I think it cost around $25. I guess Santa's people figured they wouldn't lose much because who would want to have copies made of a screaming baby. They just didn't know us very well because we went straight to Costco to have more pictures made. Who wouldn't love seeing a wonderful moment unfold before your very eyes,when a poor little girl visited Santa for the first time, even with tear-filled eyes.
I figure she can use those pictures 27 years from now along with the picture of her mommy screaming her eyeballs out. History will probably repeat itself all over again for the third time. And she can dream the same type dreams her mommy dreamed today, of seeing her sweet baby looking up lovingly into Santa's face as she gently strokes Santa's beautiful white beard and instantly bonds. Yeah, right.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Pzazghetti Face
We met The Little Princess and her mommy for lunch at one of our favoritiest pzazghetti places. When we got to her house she was still sleeping. Very unusual, but Mommy said the Little Princess had stayed up really late last night so she was ready for a nice long nap.
Mommy and Granddaddy were tinkering around with the computer so Mommy asked if I wanted to go in and wake the Little Princess. Just as I was opening the door I heard the sweetest little sound inside. She was laughing and making happy sounds...until I opened the door all the way and she saw it wasn't her mommy. She was so disappointed until I told her Mommy was just outside and she heard her voice.
We gathered a few of the necessities and Granddaddy picked her up out of the bed.
She was excited for us to see her new Christmas tree all decorated. She kept trying to tell us and pointing to it. It was lovely. She and her Mommy and Daddy did a fantastic job decorating her tree last night.
Inside the restaurant, Mommy tried to give The Little Princess some lettuce with ranch dressing, but no, that little head went from side to side, she didn't want that stuff. Finally after a few minutes of exerting her independence and realizing Mommy wasn't going to make her eat it, she decided to try it. Surprise! She actually took several other bites of it, pointing and telling Mommy she was ready for some more. She couldn't get the spaghetti fast enough. She held onto her Mommy's hand and arm trying to get her food faster. Mommy also gave her some chopped up mushrooms. Guess what, the girl belongs to us! She liked those mushrooms. I do have to acknowledge, however, that she showed her Daddy's side of the family at the end concerning those mushrooms her mommy added to her tray at the last. Head twists side to side, no more. But to be honest she really was about stuffed at that point.
She had managed to cover her little face with the spaghetti sauce and was quite happy with the results.
At one point she hung some food over the side of the high chair and her mommy said, "Did you throw food on the floor? We don't throw our food over the side of the high chair, do we Little Princess?" Little Princess looked at her and shook her little head side to side to side to side acknowledging they don't throw their food overboard.
When she was finished she rolled up the diner's mat just like she always does with us. She was finished and it was time to move on. In the meantime somehow she discovered the table cloth underneath her mat, and she didn't stop until she had pulled it up, high up, checking to see what was under it. A little further each time she pulled. No, she didn't rip the dishes off the table, but I'm a little surprised nothing came off with her exploring.
Her mommy brought out the two crayons the waitress had left with her along with a picture for her to color.
She had her red crayon and green crayon just waiting to color Mommy a nice picture. Mommy said this was her second time to play with crayons, but first time that she had really known what to do with them. First the left hand, then the right hand. She's trying out to see which she likes the best. Her Nonnie is left-handed so we're watching to see if she develops more of those traits. There is a good bit of left-handedness on my side and also on her Granddaddy's side as well. So she can probably easily go either way.
She slung those little crayons around on that paper like a master artist slings paint from his brush onto his canvas. And she put her whole little self into her masterpiece. She was funny to watch. Then she decided to taste the crayons, one by one. First the red one, then the green one. Then one by one she bit the tip off each one. In goes Mommy's finger, digs out the crayon. So patiently, but Little Princess continues to chew on a small remaining part of the crayon. Back with the finger again. Later in the car I would find tiny little flecks of green where it had come out of her mouth with some juice or spit, whichever. But she had fun and learned some fun things by experimenting. And I think she may even survive the tad of crayon she got in her mouth. She did enjoy playing with those crayons so much. It would have been a shame to have deprived her of a new experience like that.
We took some pictures by the tree.
She loved the Christmas balls. She was so gentle with them. Then outside to see if we could get some good shots of her. She and I played stepping on our shadows again, and yes, we did call them that this time, but we also called them stepping on Grandmomma and Little Princess. She loved this game.
She was all over the porch, peeking at Grandmomma through the rails like a common criminal, trying to copy Grandmomma throwing leaves up into the air, running here to there, until some of us finally got tired and we all went home.
One more thought that just came to my mind...I have tried over a few months of her life to teach her to put a little hand on sweet baby's head. She finally figured it out. Now when I say anything about "sweet baby", her little hand pops up to her head. Now I'm trying to get her to reply "Grandmomma" when I ask her, "Who loves you?" Sometimes I say "Who loves sweet baby", because I forget which one I'm supposed to use. Yep, right there in the restaurant, with little hands all covered with red spaghetti sauce I asked her who loves sweet baby. Before I thought. Out pops her mommy's hand, grabs Little Princesses' arm and holds her back. (Such a party pooper!) Mommy was so sure that was going to trigger the memory of "sweet baby's head" and she would be smeared all over her face and head with spaghetti sauce. She didn't. She was a good little girl.
On the way home I tried reminding her of another little game we play. I try to get her to wink at me. The best she can do right now is blink, but she might get that down before long. You never know.
You can only have so much fun in one day and we had all about reached our quota for the day. So home it was. Another fun day ended.
ETA: When we first were seated in the restaurant lots of fun, groovy music was playing. (Christmas music, of course!) The Little Princess loves to move to the groove. And she had a ball keeping up with all the fun sounds.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
A little of this and a little of that...
When we kept the Little Princess on Wednesday and Friday of this past week we learned a few things as I mentioned earlier. Another thing we are working on is learning to stack our hands. You know the little child game, you put your hand on the top of the table, I stack mine on top, you add your hand, I add mine, one on one with the hand on the bottom removed and stacked on top. It's a silly little game but usually one that entertains a child for a little while at least. She hasn't gotten it down quite pat just yet, but she's coming along with it.
Her mommy called earlier in the day to see if we had been working with her about something pertaining to one of her bunny books. It sounds like she's hopping or trying to hop. I'm not sure exactly. Maybe if I saw what she's doing I could tell whether we had done it before, but right now I don't think it's anything we've done. I get blamed for lots of things she does, but I'm not sure this one is something I can take blame/credit for.
Did I mentioned she's destined to be a music director or conductor. When her music plays she loves to move those little hands in concert mode and keep time to the music. And I think she's pretty good at it, too.
I can't remember if I covered this Friday or not, so I'll add it just to make sure. While we were at the restaurant and after The Little Princess had finished her meal, I offered her a wipe to clean up the mess from the table. Not the diner's mat, because that would have been a big mistake. I had to clean that myself because once she's finished that becomes a major problem. I tried to teach her to wipe her spot on the table in front of her, so she could be helpful when she gets back home to mommy. Mommy needs all the help she can get. And I handed her another clean wipe to let her clean her face. She hates having her face washed. (She needs a good puppy around her house to help keep that little face licked clean. Cats are just too self-absorbed to lower themselves to the task of cleaning a baby's face.) She began to get the knack of how and what she was supposed to do. I had told her it would be better for her to wipe her face than have Grandmomma wipe it because she might not like how fast Grandmomma would have to work. And Grandmomma's gentle compared to her mommy.
Her mommy reminds me so much of my own mother. She was rough! I thought she would wipe the hide off of me before she stopped. And that brings up another memory of my mother. She had the coldest hands! Summer or winter, spring or fall, it didn't matter. She would stick those cold hands over on my face whenever she thought I was sick. And apparently I must have been a pretty sickly child because I grew to expect those hands at any time day or night. I hated seeing them headed toward me! I drew back in horror everytime! And she always used the backs of her hand to test my temperature. Had I had a temperature, she would surely have caused it to break once she touched me. But then, those little hands of hers were constantly in water either washing up dishes or things pertaining to the milk supplies.
Today has been a very unusually warm day here. It's so hard to believe it is already this many days into December and a long sleeved shirt is very, very hot! I guess we'll pay for it some time later on this winter. It's nice to have warm weather when you need to get Christmas shopping done, but it just feels the Christmas Spirit is missing just a bit when it feels like summer but it's almost winter.
I think this hot weather is one reason Little Princesses mommy can't get the incentive to decorate the Christmas tree they got last week end. She called wanted the "recipe" for the good-smelling cinnamon stuff I used to heat on the stove during Christmas time. You know, the secret family recipe, the Martha Stewart recipe of our family...the old water-cinnamon-cloves-orange peel recipe. She just wants to feel she's in the Christmas season. Christmas songs just haven't made the difference to her so far this year.
A few more weeks and maybe we'll all be in the mood for Christmas! And winter!
Her mommy called earlier in the day to see if we had been working with her about something pertaining to one of her bunny books. It sounds like she's hopping or trying to hop. I'm not sure exactly. Maybe if I saw what she's doing I could tell whether we had done it before, but right now I don't think it's anything we've done. I get blamed for lots of things she does, but I'm not sure this one is something I can take blame/credit for.
Did I mentioned she's destined to be a music director or conductor. When her music plays she loves to move those little hands in concert mode and keep time to the music. And I think she's pretty good at it, too.
I can't remember if I covered this Friday or not, so I'll add it just to make sure. While we were at the restaurant and after The Little Princess had finished her meal, I offered her a wipe to clean up the mess from the table. Not the diner's mat, because that would have been a big mistake. I had to clean that myself because once she's finished that becomes a major problem. I tried to teach her to wipe her spot on the table in front of her, so she could be helpful when she gets back home to mommy. Mommy needs all the help she can get. And I handed her another clean wipe to let her clean her face. She hates having her face washed. (She needs a good puppy around her house to help keep that little face licked clean. Cats are just too self-absorbed to lower themselves to the task of cleaning a baby's face.) She began to get the knack of how and what she was supposed to do. I had told her it would be better for her to wipe her face than have Grandmomma wipe it because she might not like how fast Grandmomma would have to work. And Grandmomma's gentle compared to her mommy.
Her mommy reminds me so much of my own mother. She was rough! I thought she would wipe the hide off of me before she stopped. And that brings up another memory of my mother. She had the coldest hands! Summer or winter, spring or fall, it didn't matter. She would stick those cold hands over on my face whenever she thought I was sick. And apparently I must have been a pretty sickly child because I grew to expect those hands at any time day or night. I hated seeing them headed toward me! I drew back in horror everytime! And she always used the backs of her hand to test my temperature. Had I had a temperature, she would surely have caused it to break once she touched me. But then, those little hands of hers were constantly in water either washing up dishes or things pertaining to the milk supplies.
Today has been a very unusually warm day here. It's so hard to believe it is already this many days into December and a long sleeved shirt is very, very hot! I guess we'll pay for it some time later on this winter. It's nice to have warm weather when you need to get Christmas shopping done, but it just feels the Christmas Spirit is missing just a bit when it feels like summer but it's almost winter.
I think this hot weather is one reason Little Princesses mommy can't get the incentive to decorate the Christmas tree they got last week end. She called wanted the "recipe" for the good-smelling cinnamon stuff I used to heat on the stove during Christmas time. You know, the secret family recipe, the Martha Stewart recipe of our family...the old water-cinnamon-cloves-orange peel recipe. She just wants to feel she's in the Christmas season. Christmas songs just haven't made the difference to her so far this year.
A few more weeks and maybe we'll all be in the mood for Christmas! And winter!
Saturday, December 8, 2007
Something I forgot from yesterday...
Something I forgot that happened yesterday was when The Little Princess and I were looking at the front of a Martha Stewart Magazine. Martha was holding a puppy dog and Little Princess and I were talking about it. I asked her to point out the doggie for me. We talked about everything around Martha. The pillows, etc. then I pointed out the pretty roses on the table in front of Martha. I asked her if her daddy ever gave her mommy pretty roses. She turned around and immediately pointed to my little old fashioned telephone table where I keep a cluster of red silk roses. Now I don't know if she knew those were roses, whether she just knew they were flowers, or what it was she was thinking, but she related to it properly. And the flowers on Martha Stewart's magazine were yellow, not red. I believe she knew they were the same kind of flowers.
I don't remember if I shared this yesterday, either, but she would want to go from the family room (which was closed off to her) to her room where she sleeps. She would spend a minute in there by her little bed, look in and then walk into the bathroom. She would stand beside the bathtub and look like she wanted to get in to take a bath. Kind of leaning over, looking in. I told her I didn't think it was time for her to have a bath yet. I didn't know whether she was wanting to get into the tub or just play with the toys she plays with when she's in the tub. I just watched her for a minute or so. She stood by the tub and her little head nodded up and down, up and down, like she knew what she wanted. I don't know what it was all about because she finally left and went back into the family room.
Another time while we were playing and she was handing me toys she said something that sounded much like "tank 'ou" Several times. I would say Thank you to her when she would hand me something in return. I watched her and one time she walked away from me and I heard her say, "Tank 'ou" a couple of times and that little head bobbed up and down just like she had earlier in the bathroom. It was almost like she was thinking, "That's what I wanted to say. I have it all figured out. Thank you." It was almost a serious discovery she had made. Too cute.
I don't remember if I shared this yesterday, either, but she would want to go from the family room (which was closed off to her) to her room where she sleeps. She would spend a minute in there by her little bed, look in and then walk into the bathroom. She would stand beside the bathtub and look like she wanted to get in to take a bath. Kind of leaning over, looking in. I told her I didn't think it was time for her to have a bath yet. I didn't know whether she was wanting to get into the tub or just play with the toys she plays with when she's in the tub. I just watched her for a minute or so. She stood by the tub and her little head nodded up and down, up and down, like she knew what she wanted. I don't know what it was all about because she finally left and went back into the family room.
Another time while we were playing and she was handing me toys she said something that sounded much like "tank 'ou" Several times. I would say Thank you to her when she would hand me something in return. I watched her and one time she walked away from me and I heard her say, "Tank 'ou" a couple of times and that little head bobbed up and down just like she had earlier in the bathroom. It was almost like she was thinking, "That's what I wanted to say. I have it all figured out. Thank you." It was almost a serious discovery she had made. Too cute.
Friday, December 7, 2007
At last, I can play with my new toy!
Wednesday December 7, 2007
A couple of days ago while searching on Toys R Us for toys for my two-year old grandson's Christmas presents, I accidentally ran across the cutest little Fisher-Price Musical Tea Set. I instantly fell in love with it and knew I just had to have it. After all isn’t that what I’ve always said The Little Princess and I would spend time doing? Playing with our tea sets. It is the prettiest pastel colored saucers and teacups as well as a little tea pot that makes a little noise when it’s tipped up and the tea is poured out, and the little tea pot also plays the tune “I’m a little teapot” when a little button on top is pushed. It also has four little spoons, a cream pitcher and sugar dish.
I was so excited, I wanted to play with it immediately, but I had to wait until the Little Princess came over and could play with me. So, today was my first chance. After she came in, I pulled it out for us to play with. She was almost as excited about playing with it as I was. She could hardly wait for me to get it out of the box.
I pulled each piece out one by one and placed them for us to play with. She watched as I showed her how to pour the tea from the pot into the cups, add the sugar, the cream and stir it all up with the little spoon. She did a very good job for this to have been her first time. We even invited her favorite pal Teddy to join us in a spot of tea. He sat politely as he waited patiently for his tea. I was proud of him, too. He was on his best behavior.
Later the Little Princess even learned to share with Teddy by giving him sips of her tea. I’m sad to say, she did offer it to the back of his head, and she also poured the pretend tea right on top of poor Teddy’s head. I sure hope he didn’t suffer any major burns!
She didn’t pay as much attention to the little tea set to begin with that I had hoped, but she is only thirteen months old and her attention span isn’t supposed to be several hours long, I guess. We kept coming back to it again and again. Eventually she’ll get the hang of it.
We ate at The Golden Corral for lunch. It’s a buffet meal and that’s a great thing when you have a picky little one. She could pick and choose what she wanted to eat and not be stuck with just what Grandmomma wanted her to eat.
She ate a very hearty meal of broccoli, black-eyed peas, carrots, pear, fried okra, even a smidge of a chopped up brussell sprouts, sweet potato, mashed white potatoes, a bit of corn muffin, and I can’t remember what else she ate. I do know I added a few green beans on the side and when she spotted them,she handed them towards me, made a face (without even sampling them). When I suggested she put them back on her diner’s mat, she immediately hung them over her the edge of her chair in a threatening manner. She was going to put those nasty things on the floor if I didn’t get them out of her sight. So, to save the restaurant workers the task of cleaning up after a messy baby, I removed them from her sight.
I knew she was all finished-done because she finally decided to roll up her little diner’s mat with the remnants of her food still in it, so she could get them out of her way. Then she spotted my goody bag and remembered I had packed a banana in it. I had promised her she could have it at the restaurant and she pointed at my bag and let me know she wanted it, NOW. She was really excited when I pulled it out. She laughed and talked about it while waiting for me to cut it up. She ate at least 2/3s of it, before she was finally full.
I left the table to get a dessert. I could hear the Little Princess in the background. She was crying. Granddaddy said she had missed me until he showed her where I was. I came back with some ice cream for both of us. I didn’t think she could possibly hold anymore, but I didn’t want to leave her out. Well, that little stinker ate every bit of the ice cream I had brought back for her. It wasn’t a large bowl, but she loved everything she had.
I asked her if she was full and let’s check her tummy to see. She held up her top and smiled. She was full. I could tell by looking at her. And she was happy.
On the way back to the car, we could see our long shadows in front of us. I introduced her to the game of “step on Little Princess, step on Grandmomma, step on Granddaddy.” I may have even made the mistake of saying “step on our shadows”, but I’m not positive. That would have been a big mistake since one of her kitty cat's name is Shadow and according to her mommy she already aggravates the kitty enough. I think it was mostly Little Princess, Grandmomma and Granddaddy, though. However,it was a fun game for her as I stepped onto her shadow. She smiled the biggest smile and finally got the knack of the game and stepped on mine and Granddaddy’s. At least it kept her entertained until we reached the car.
She’s gotten better about climbing into the car and she’s working on sitting in her seat so we can buckle her in.
She was really sleepy when we got back to the house. She wouldn’t let me rock her to sleep. She didn’t want to lie down. This went on for a short while until I finally put her down in her bed. She was not happy, but she got over it and went to sleep for about 40-45 minutes. Then nature acted and woke her up.
We spent some more time playing with the tea set, Teddy, wrapping my bunny in a blanket like mommy used to wrap her when she was a little baby, listening to Grandmomma's recorded voice on an older pay-style telephone the boys had played with when they were younger, reading some books, digging in the toy bucket for something new and who knows what else. She wasn’t all that impressed with the game of wrapping the bunny, but just wait until cold weather gets here and she can relate to why bunny needs to be wrapped up!
After mommy came home we brought out the graham crackers. This was her first tasty bite of graham crackers. Of course, we put a little on her saucer from the tea set for her to enjoy. After she had finished her allotted amount, she wanted more and pointed to the box on the counter. Mommy couldn’t believe she knew what was in that box. This was the first time she had ever had any, she had never seen the box before today. Maybe she’s learning to read.
Granddaddy has been working on another digital page featuring The Little Princess. He did a really good job on this one. It’s a quick page, but he’s improving quite a bit on his skills. Of course, I had to go back and re-do it to suit my style. Someday he’ll learn what I like, and I won’t have to do them over for him everytime! He’s really doing great work and I’m proud of him.
A couple of days ago while searching on Toys R Us for toys for my two-year old grandson's Christmas presents, I accidentally ran across the cutest little Fisher-Price Musical Tea Set. I instantly fell in love with it and knew I just had to have it. After all isn’t that what I’ve always said The Little Princess and I would spend time doing? Playing with our tea sets. It is the prettiest pastel colored saucers and teacups as well as a little tea pot that makes a little noise when it’s tipped up and the tea is poured out, and the little tea pot also plays the tune “I’m a little teapot” when a little button on top is pushed. It also has four little spoons, a cream pitcher and sugar dish.
I was so excited, I wanted to play with it immediately, but I had to wait until the Little Princess came over and could play with me. So, today was my first chance. After she came in, I pulled it out for us to play with. She was almost as excited about playing with it as I was. She could hardly wait for me to get it out of the box.
I pulled each piece out one by one and placed them for us to play with. She watched as I showed her how to pour the tea from the pot into the cups, add the sugar, the cream and stir it all up with the little spoon. She did a very good job for this to have been her first time. We even invited her favorite pal Teddy to join us in a spot of tea. He sat politely as he waited patiently for his tea. I was proud of him, too. He was on his best behavior.
Later the Little Princess even learned to share with Teddy by giving him sips of her tea. I’m sad to say, she did offer it to the back of his head, and she also poured the pretend tea right on top of poor Teddy’s head. I sure hope he didn’t suffer any major burns!
She didn’t pay as much attention to the little tea set to begin with that I had hoped, but she is only thirteen months old and her attention span isn’t supposed to be several hours long, I guess. We kept coming back to it again and again. Eventually she’ll get the hang of it.
We ate at The Golden Corral for lunch. It’s a buffet meal and that’s a great thing when you have a picky little one. She could pick and choose what she wanted to eat and not be stuck with just what Grandmomma wanted her to eat.
She ate a very hearty meal of broccoli, black-eyed peas, carrots, pear, fried okra, even a smidge of a chopped up brussell sprouts, sweet potato, mashed white potatoes, a bit of corn muffin, and I can’t remember what else she ate. I do know I added a few green beans on the side and when she spotted them,she handed them towards me, made a face (without even sampling them). When I suggested she put them back on her diner’s mat, she immediately hung them over her the edge of her chair in a threatening manner. She was going to put those nasty things on the floor if I didn’t get them out of her sight. So, to save the restaurant workers the task of cleaning up after a messy baby, I removed them from her sight.
I knew she was all finished-done because she finally decided to roll up her little diner’s mat with the remnants of her food still in it, so she could get them out of her way. Then she spotted my goody bag and remembered I had packed a banana in it. I had promised her she could have it at the restaurant and she pointed at my bag and let me know she wanted it, NOW. She was really excited when I pulled it out. She laughed and talked about it while waiting for me to cut it up. She ate at least 2/3s of it, before she was finally full.
I left the table to get a dessert. I could hear the Little Princess in the background. She was crying. Granddaddy said she had missed me until he showed her where I was. I came back with some ice cream for both of us. I didn’t think she could possibly hold anymore, but I didn’t want to leave her out. Well, that little stinker ate every bit of the ice cream I had brought back for her. It wasn’t a large bowl, but she loved everything she had.
I asked her if she was full and let’s check her tummy to see. She held up her top and smiled. She was full. I could tell by looking at her. And she was happy.
On the way back to the car, we could see our long shadows in front of us. I introduced her to the game of “step on Little Princess, step on Grandmomma, step on Granddaddy.” I may have even made the mistake of saying “step on our shadows”, but I’m not positive. That would have been a big mistake since one of her kitty cat's name is Shadow and according to her mommy she already aggravates the kitty enough. I think it was mostly Little Princess, Grandmomma and Granddaddy, though. However,it was a fun game for her as I stepped onto her shadow. She smiled the biggest smile and finally got the knack of the game and stepped on mine and Granddaddy’s. At least it kept her entertained until we reached the car.
She’s gotten better about climbing into the car and she’s working on sitting in her seat so we can buckle her in.
She was really sleepy when we got back to the house. She wouldn’t let me rock her to sleep. She didn’t want to lie down. This went on for a short while until I finally put her down in her bed. She was not happy, but she got over it and went to sleep for about 40-45 minutes. Then nature acted and woke her up.
We spent some more time playing with the tea set, Teddy, wrapping my bunny in a blanket like mommy used to wrap her when she was a little baby, listening to Grandmomma's recorded voice on an older pay-style telephone the boys had played with when they were younger, reading some books, digging in the toy bucket for something new and who knows what else. She wasn’t all that impressed with the game of wrapping the bunny, but just wait until cold weather gets here and she can relate to why bunny needs to be wrapped up!
After mommy came home we brought out the graham crackers. This was her first tasty bite of graham crackers. Of course, we put a little on her saucer from the tea set for her to enjoy. After she had finished her allotted amount, she wanted more and pointed to the box on the counter. Mommy couldn’t believe she knew what was in that box. This was the first time she had ever had any, she had never seen the box before today. Maybe she’s learning to read.
Granddaddy has been working on another digital page featuring The Little Princess. He did a really good job on this one. It’s a quick page, but he’s improving quite a bit on his skills. Of course, I had to go back and re-do it to suit my style. Someday he’ll learn what I like, and I won’t have to do them over for him everytime! He’s really doing great work and I’m proud of him.
What is all that racket?...
Thursday,December 6, 2007
On a recent visit to the northern part of the country my son and his family call home, we spent the day with Beautiful Blue Eyes while his mom went to work and then finished up some other chores she was committed to before we had made plans to visit.
His usual routine was to take a nap shortly after lunch. This particular day his Granddaddy and I decided we would tour the local town and surrounding area to get an idea of where they lived, then get a meal out and return in time for his scheduled nap.
A quick glance to the back seat of the car caused me to warn his Granddaddy that Beautiful Blue Eyes might fall asleep if we rode around too long. Very short trip, didn’t even make it out of town, then it was back home to resume play where he wouldn’t be as inclined to want to fall asleep. But not before Beautiful Blue Eyes fell asleep. He couldn’t have been asleep more than a minute or two before we got back to his house. Of course, he didn’t stay asleep. He was up and around, playing as though he had slept all day.
Time for his scheduled nap…Up to his bed he goes and since he was still sleeping in his crib, I didn’t worry he would get out and into something when I wasn’t looking. Back downstairs I could hear a consistent little thump, thump, thump. On and on the sound came from up the stairs. It was something I hadn’t heard other days when his mom was home.
This went on for maybe an hour until I heard him call for me. I knew he hadn’t been asleep, but I didn’t know what all the thumping was about until I went into his room. There strewn all about his room were several blankets, his favorite stuffed dragon he likes to wear around his little neck like a fur coat, and all his pillows and other toys that had joined him in bed. The only things I didn’t find were his two beloved pacifiers that he had to have to go to sleep. Somewhere lurking beneath the bed or who knows where, were those silly pacis. After considerable looking I resigned myself to the fact he had just eaten them, or maybe the dragon did. Just by luck, I knew where to find an extra one, and after warning him this was his last paci, and he simply had to go to sleep, I had to leave the room. I didn’t dare let him hear the giggles I was hiding over his silly antics. He would have known who had won this game, and it wouldn’t have been Grandmomma. And besides, I needed the rest.
What was that horrible thumping noise? He had managed to bounce his bed down the floor of his room until it nested against his dresser and would move no further.
But he did finally take his nap before mommy came home. Grandmomma offered up a prayer of thanks for silent houses and precious little sleeping boys.
I love you Beautiful Blue Eyes!
On a recent visit to the northern part of the country my son and his family call home, we spent the day with Beautiful Blue Eyes while his mom went to work and then finished up some other chores she was committed to before we had made plans to visit.
His usual routine was to take a nap shortly after lunch. This particular day his Granddaddy and I decided we would tour the local town and surrounding area to get an idea of where they lived, then get a meal out and return in time for his scheduled nap.
A quick glance to the back seat of the car caused me to warn his Granddaddy that Beautiful Blue Eyes might fall asleep if we rode around too long. Very short trip, didn’t even make it out of town, then it was back home to resume play where he wouldn’t be as inclined to want to fall asleep. But not before Beautiful Blue Eyes fell asleep. He couldn’t have been asleep more than a minute or two before we got back to his house. Of course, he didn’t stay asleep. He was up and around, playing as though he had slept all day.
Time for his scheduled nap…Up to his bed he goes and since he was still sleeping in his crib, I didn’t worry he would get out and into something when I wasn’t looking. Back downstairs I could hear a consistent little thump, thump, thump. On and on the sound came from up the stairs. It was something I hadn’t heard other days when his mom was home.
This went on for maybe an hour until I heard him call for me. I knew he hadn’t been asleep, but I didn’t know what all the thumping was about until I went into his room. There strewn all about his room were several blankets, his favorite stuffed dragon he likes to wear around his little neck like a fur coat, and all his pillows and other toys that had joined him in bed. The only things I didn’t find were his two beloved pacifiers that he had to have to go to sleep. Somewhere lurking beneath the bed or who knows where, were those silly pacis. After considerable looking I resigned myself to the fact he had just eaten them, or maybe the dragon did. Just by luck, I knew where to find an extra one, and after warning him this was his last paci, and he simply had to go to sleep, I had to leave the room. I didn’t dare let him hear the giggles I was hiding over his silly antics. He would have known who had won this game, and it wouldn’t have been Grandmomma. And besides, I needed the rest.
What was that horrible thumping noise? He had managed to bounce his bed down the floor of his room until it nested against his dresser and would move no further.
But he did finally take his nap before mommy came home. Grandmomma offered up a prayer of thanks for silent houses and precious little sleeping boys.
I love you Beautiful Blue Eyes!
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Grumpy baby??
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Today Little Princesses’ mommy had more CPE classes so Granddaddy and I went over to keep Little Princess. She was asleep when we got there and mommy left without any problems. Until she woke from her nap. I went in immediately to let her know we were there. Earlier her mommy had called and asked me to speak to her over the phone. I told her we were coming later to see her, after she had a nap. According to her mommy before she called me she had told The Little Princess we were coming to keep her. She said she went over to the door as if she thought we were coming then and she was keeping watch for us. Wasn’t that sweet?
Back to the grumpy baby…I went in and spoke to her just like I always do, walked over to the bed and started to get her out. She has her paci in her hand and steps over to the back side of the bed and starts to drop her paci overboard. Oh yeah, I am onto that girl! I talked her into leaving it in the bed with bunny and teddy and whoever else was occupying real estate at that particular moment. She begged to differ with me. She didn’t like my suggestion at all.
Oh, and I had also mentioned to her right after that, that her mommy would be back later In the afternoon, we would be staying with her until then. Apparently that didn’t set too well with her either. I didn’t know if she was most upset by my suggestion that she leave her paci behind or the nerve I had to tell her that her mommy was missing. Whatever it was, it brought on a downpour of pitiful tears…real, honest to goodness tears, streaming down her little face, along with quite a bit of howling.
I picked her up to hold her and talk to her and love her for a few minutes and she started again. She pointed to the corner to a basket where her mommy had recently relocated a few of her many toys because the Christmas tree was occupying some of her previously claimed space.
I asked her to tell me or show me what was troubling her little soul. I put her on the floor and sent her on her way. She walked over to the basket and screamed again. She was looking for something but I really had no clue what it was. There lay Carly, the Newborn Cabbage Patch Kid doll Aunt Katie and Uncle Ken had given her for her first birthday, she poked around and pulled out a plastic cottage cheese box her mother had used to store some of her little critters and people in, then the empty diaper wipe container came out (also filled this time with more little critters and people). We opened the boxes and played a little while until she got in a better mood.
She has this thing about wanting to play with her box of bathtub toys when I’m around. Those entertain her for a long time, so that was also a toy of choice. Then she decided something else was missing. She headed into mommy and daddy’s room, around the bed and over to the night stand. She thinks there’s something in there for her to play with, but since I didn’t think mommy wanted her in it, I told her she didn’t need to play there. Well, another gush of tears. Don’t tell me “NO, Grandmomma!” But she was finally distracted enough to go back and play a while in her room. (Oh, and Mommy would tell me later that it was just fine for her to play in the nightstand!)
Sometime during all that playing around, her music was still playing in the CD player. She began to dance to the music and do her little back step thing that her mommy has already written about. And she laughed. She thought that was so funny.
Oh, and thank you, Granddaddy for being so helpful while she was screaming so much. Granddaddy decided to stay out of the dispute by remaining in the recliner in the living room, while I’m trying to deal with a spoiled rotten little Princess. No, he doesn’t like being the bad guy, so he just lays low.
We played for a while and then got her hair all prettied up, got her into her Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes and then it was on to eat at Picadilly’s again this week. She’s always a pretty good eater there, like I said earlier. Mommy had left this cute little sweater for me to put on her with directions to put on a onsie under it to make it more comfortable and not so scratchy. Which is what I did. I’m pretty good at following directions most of the time, when I want to.
So, when she was all dressed and primped up we asked her if she wanted to go eat at the cafeteria. Yep, she was at the door immediately, just as though she knew what we had meant. We let her walk to the car holding on to my hand. Granddaddy opened the door and she stood by the car at the door as though she would crawl or climb right into the car by herself and into her car seat if we let her. She was so cute. Our car isn’t as tall as her mommy’s so it would be much easier for her to get into ours. Anyway, we got all fastened in and ready to go eat. Our usual ritual--get her out, struggle with the high chair cover, get her feet to fit into the holes of both the cover and high chair at precisely the right moment, then on to pick out our food. We're getting better at it, I have to tell you. I said better, not perfect!
She enjoyed her meal just as she did last week, only this time she didn’t pig out quite as much. I had ordered a bran muffin or carrot muffin, or whatever muffin, just not the blueberry muffin they rang it up as, and I decided to see if she wanted it. Sometimes now if she doesn’t want a particular food that little head will go defiantly from side to side in a “no” manner. But she did decide to finally try the muffin. She probably ate maybe a fourth of it and she really did enjoy it. I had packed in a Clementine orange and gave that to her to finish her meal.
I forgot to mention this last week, but again this week, when she was all finished, it sounded like she said, “all done” and proceeded to remove her bib and then take up the little plastic diner’s mat I had brought along and roll it up. Granddaddy said she had seen her mommy do this and was just copying her. She was packing it up to get it out of her way. She was all done-finished!
She always requires at least three or four diaper wipes to clean her up after we take her out. And no, Mommy, those were my diaper wipes, thank you, and you don’t get to take them out of her college funds!
We were there probably close to an hour and a half counting going and coming time. By the time we pick up things from the floor, wipe her hands and face, help her put food on her spoon, feed her by hand other times, etc. it takes a long time to eat out. I was really surprised because it didn’t seem like we had been gone that long.
When we got back to her house her Mommy was waiting for us. And she hadn’t even called the first time while she was gone.
Little Princess was very proud to see her mommy once again. The first thing her mother did was criticize the way Grandmomma had dressed her baby. I had put on exactly what she had laid out for me, so if it was mismatched, that certainly wasn’t my fault! No, she dared criticize that the buttons were in the front on her sweater…and the pockets were in the back! Well, how was I supposed to know how her clothes go. Have you seen that kid’s wardrobe lately? I guess she’s just going to have to learn to talk if she wants to be dressed stylishly when I come over! Or learn to dress herself.
She continued about her play, once Mommy had rearranged her clothes. (I really didn’t see all that much of a problem with it myself. I thought she looked just fine the way she was.) Into the kitchen to play in the drawer with the cereal and stuff and then into the office to pull out the markers from the bottom drawer. The thing that was funny to me was she had left a big black marker out on a box and she went right back to it later, opened the bottom drawer she had removed it from and put it up again! Now, how smart is that?
We could tell she was getting very tired and one of us asked her if she wanted to take her nap. She went straight to her room for her paci. Yep, she was ready alright. Granddaddy was talking on the cell phone when we went into the kitchen for The Little Princess to tell him bye-bye. She walked right over, grabbed his legs and gave him the sweetest little hug. He was so proud. Then I pouted because she hadn’t done that to me. She left him and came over and hugged my legs. Have I told you how sweet that Little Princess is?
Today Little Princesses’ mommy had more CPE classes so Granddaddy and I went over to keep Little Princess. She was asleep when we got there and mommy left without any problems. Until she woke from her nap. I went in immediately to let her know we were there. Earlier her mommy had called and asked me to speak to her over the phone. I told her we were coming later to see her, after she had a nap. According to her mommy before she called me she had told The Little Princess we were coming to keep her. She said she went over to the door as if she thought we were coming then and she was keeping watch for us. Wasn’t that sweet?
Back to the grumpy baby…I went in and spoke to her just like I always do, walked over to the bed and started to get her out. She has her paci in her hand and steps over to the back side of the bed and starts to drop her paci overboard. Oh yeah, I am onto that girl! I talked her into leaving it in the bed with bunny and teddy and whoever else was occupying real estate at that particular moment. She begged to differ with me. She didn’t like my suggestion at all.
Oh, and I had also mentioned to her right after that, that her mommy would be back later In the afternoon, we would be staying with her until then. Apparently that didn’t set too well with her either. I didn’t know if she was most upset by my suggestion that she leave her paci behind or the nerve I had to tell her that her mommy was missing. Whatever it was, it brought on a downpour of pitiful tears…real, honest to goodness tears, streaming down her little face, along with quite a bit of howling.
I picked her up to hold her and talk to her and love her for a few minutes and she started again. She pointed to the corner to a basket where her mommy had recently relocated a few of her many toys because the Christmas tree was occupying some of her previously claimed space.
I asked her to tell me or show me what was troubling her little soul. I put her on the floor and sent her on her way. She walked over to the basket and screamed again. She was looking for something but I really had no clue what it was. There lay Carly, the Newborn Cabbage Patch Kid doll Aunt Katie and Uncle Ken had given her for her first birthday, she poked around and pulled out a plastic cottage cheese box her mother had used to store some of her little critters and people in, then the empty diaper wipe container came out (also filled this time with more little critters and people). We opened the boxes and played a little while until she got in a better mood.
She has this thing about wanting to play with her box of bathtub toys when I’m around. Those entertain her for a long time, so that was also a toy of choice. Then she decided something else was missing. She headed into mommy and daddy’s room, around the bed and over to the night stand. She thinks there’s something in there for her to play with, but since I didn’t think mommy wanted her in it, I told her she didn’t need to play there. Well, another gush of tears. Don’t tell me “NO, Grandmomma!” But she was finally distracted enough to go back and play a while in her room. (Oh, and Mommy would tell me later that it was just fine for her to play in the nightstand!)
Sometime during all that playing around, her music was still playing in the CD player. She began to dance to the music and do her little back step thing that her mommy has already written about. And she laughed. She thought that was so funny.
Oh, and thank you, Granddaddy for being so helpful while she was screaming so much. Granddaddy decided to stay out of the dispute by remaining in the recliner in the living room, while I’m trying to deal with a spoiled rotten little Princess. No, he doesn’t like being the bad guy, so he just lays low.
We played for a while and then got her hair all prettied up, got her into her Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes and then it was on to eat at Picadilly’s again this week. She’s always a pretty good eater there, like I said earlier. Mommy had left this cute little sweater for me to put on her with directions to put on a onsie under it to make it more comfortable and not so scratchy. Which is what I did. I’m pretty good at following directions most of the time, when I want to.
So, when she was all dressed and primped up we asked her if she wanted to go eat at the cafeteria. Yep, she was at the door immediately, just as though she knew what we had meant. We let her walk to the car holding on to my hand. Granddaddy opened the door and she stood by the car at the door as though she would crawl or climb right into the car by herself and into her car seat if we let her. She was so cute. Our car isn’t as tall as her mommy’s so it would be much easier for her to get into ours. Anyway, we got all fastened in and ready to go eat. Our usual ritual--get her out, struggle with the high chair cover, get her feet to fit into the holes of both the cover and high chair at precisely the right moment, then on to pick out our food. We're getting better at it, I have to tell you. I said better, not perfect!
She enjoyed her meal just as she did last week, only this time she didn’t pig out quite as much. I had ordered a bran muffin or carrot muffin, or whatever muffin, just not the blueberry muffin they rang it up as, and I decided to see if she wanted it. Sometimes now if she doesn’t want a particular food that little head will go defiantly from side to side in a “no” manner. But she did decide to finally try the muffin. She probably ate maybe a fourth of it and she really did enjoy it. I had packed in a Clementine orange and gave that to her to finish her meal.
I forgot to mention this last week, but again this week, when she was all finished, it sounded like she said, “all done” and proceeded to remove her bib and then take up the little plastic diner’s mat I had brought along and roll it up. Granddaddy said she had seen her mommy do this and was just copying her. She was packing it up to get it out of her way. She was all done-finished!
She always requires at least three or four diaper wipes to clean her up after we take her out. And no, Mommy, those were my diaper wipes, thank you, and you don’t get to take them out of her college funds!
We were there probably close to an hour and a half counting going and coming time. By the time we pick up things from the floor, wipe her hands and face, help her put food on her spoon, feed her by hand other times, etc. it takes a long time to eat out. I was really surprised because it didn’t seem like we had been gone that long.
When we got back to her house her Mommy was waiting for us. And she hadn’t even called the first time while she was gone.
Little Princess was very proud to see her mommy once again. The first thing her mother did was criticize the way Grandmomma had dressed her baby. I had put on exactly what she had laid out for me, so if it was mismatched, that certainly wasn’t my fault! No, she dared criticize that the buttons were in the front on her sweater…and the pockets were in the back! Well, how was I supposed to know how her clothes go. Have you seen that kid’s wardrobe lately? I guess she’s just going to have to learn to talk if she wants to be dressed stylishly when I come over! Or learn to dress herself.
She continued about her play, once Mommy had rearranged her clothes. (I really didn’t see all that much of a problem with it myself. I thought she looked just fine the way she was.) Into the kitchen to play in the drawer with the cereal and stuff and then into the office to pull out the markers from the bottom drawer. The thing that was funny to me was she had left a big black marker out on a box and she went right back to it later, opened the bottom drawer she had removed it from and put it up again! Now, how smart is that?
We could tell she was getting very tired and one of us asked her if she wanted to take her nap. She went straight to her room for her paci. Yep, she was ready alright. Granddaddy was talking on the cell phone when we went into the kitchen for The Little Princess to tell him bye-bye. She walked right over, grabbed his legs and gave him the sweetest little hug. He was so proud. Then I pouted because she hadn’t done that to me. She left him and came over and hugged my legs. Have I told you how sweet that Little Princess is?
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Bubble Cake, Fried Corn, Salmon and No City Bacon
I was sitting here reading on the internet,recipes that people were planning to use for their Christmas morning menu, and noticed several people had mentioned they always made Bubble Bread,otherwise known as Monkey Bread. It’s a cinnamon-type recipe made with the bread, usually biscuit dough as I recall, pinched off into balls and stacked into a Bundt-type pan and sprinkled generously or maybe rolled generously in cinnamon sugar and margarine/butter and stacked around the Bundt pan. I’ve made it a few times just as a snack and not particularly at Christmas.
Anyway, the mention of Bubble Bread brought to mind a childhood treat we enjoyed very rarely, but occasionally. It was something my mother always called Bubble Cake. To those who don’t remember or know what Bubble Cake was/is…it was what is commonly known as Rice Krispy Treats. It was made with Rice Krispy Cereal, butter,and Marshmallows. Just a gussied up name my Mama chose for it.
It has always tasted and sounded better called “Bubble Cake”. And maybe it tasted so good because we rarely had it.
We also very rarely ever had city-type bacon. Ours was always the streak-o-lean type hog meat that was cut mostly in large chunks and used to season our fresh boiled vegetables, or if sliced in thinner slices, but not as thin as that good old hickory smoked city bacon, it was used mostly when Mama fried it down to use in our fried corn. It always had a hard rind to it after she fried it. That was my favorite part of the country streak-o-lean or fatback if it was mostly fat. Really, I guess she used the fat back for the boiled vegetables and the streak-o-lean for frying.
And remembering that fried corn she used to make…she would make corn fritters and fry them for us for our meals, mostly on Sundays and especially when the preacher came, I guess. I never learned to perfect her corn fritters. That,and Mama’s fried salmon patties. Nobody could make a better dish of either than she could. She would use what she called then, a box of salmon, which was the large, tall can, add homemade biscuit crumbled up, salt, pepper, I’m not sure she used egg, like I do, and that box of salmon would feed a big, hungry family. She could stretch that out into so many patties, and they were delicious every time. She would get her grease, lard of course, just hot enough and fry those things until they were a pretty brown on both sides, and that was some good eating. I seldom am able to get more than ten patties out of a can. She had a knack for expanding that food, I guess.
Hmm, maybe she stretched hers further because she didn't pick through the salmon and remove all that ugly black stuff and all those bones. We ate it all. Those bones were good for our little bones. Good calcium.
Those salmon patties were another thing we had very seldom. For some reason I want to say they cost about ten cents a can at that time. Daddy was working in a grocery store and would pick up some occasionally.
I remember specifically one time when we went to visit some of my Mother’s out of town relatives and we skipped church that Sunday. We never did that, so this was something I really remembered. Mama had made a pan of hot biscuits before we left home and had packed those salmon patties in for a picnic somewhere along the way. I don’t remember that much about anything else that day except standing outside the car and eating those biscuits and salmon for lunch. Yummmmy.
Anyway, the mention of Bubble Bread brought to mind a childhood treat we enjoyed very rarely, but occasionally. It was something my mother always called Bubble Cake. To those who don’t remember or know what Bubble Cake was/is…it was what is commonly known as Rice Krispy Treats. It was made with Rice Krispy Cereal, butter,and Marshmallows. Just a gussied up name my Mama chose for it.
It has always tasted and sounded better called “Bubble Cake”. And maybe it tasted so good because we rarely had it.
We also very rarely ever had city-type bacon. Ours was always the streak-o-lean type hog meat that was cut mostly in large chunks and used to season our fresh boiled vegetables, or if sliced in thinner slices, but not as thin as that good old hickory smoked city bacon, it was used mostly when Mama fried it down to use in our fried corn. It always had a hard rind to it after she fried it. That was my favorite part of the country streak-o-lean or fatback if it was mostly fat. Really, I guess she used the fat back for the boiled vegetables and the streak-o-lean for frying.
And remembering that fried corn she used to make…she would make corn fritters and fry them for us for our meals, mostly on Sundays and especially when the preacher came, I guess. I never learned to perfect her corn fritters. That,and Mama’s fried salmon patties. Nobody could make a better dish of either than she could. She would use what she called then, a box of salmon, which was the large, tall can, add homemade biscuit crumbled up, salt, pepper, I’m not sure she used egg, like I do, and that box of salmon would feed a big, hungry family. She could stretch that out into so many patties, and they were delicious every time. She would get her grease, lard of course, just hot enough and fry those things until they were a pretty brown on both sides, and that was some good eating. I seldom am able to get more than ten patties out of a can. She had a knack for expanding that food, I guess.
Hmm, maybe she stretched hers further because she didn't pick through the salmon and remove all that ugly black stuff and all those bones. We ate it all. Those bones were good for our little bones. Good calcium.
Those salmon patties were another thing we had very seldom. For some reason I want to say they cost about ten cents a can at that time. Daddy was working in a grocery store and would pick up some occasionally.
I remember specifically one time when we went to visit some of my Mother’s out of town relatives and we skipped church that Sunday. We never did that, so this was something I really remembered. Mama had made a pan of hot biscuits before we left home and had packed those salmon patties in for a picnic somewhere along the way. I don’t remember that much about anything else that day except standing outside the car and eating those biscuits and salmon for lunch. Yummmmy.
Just remembering something funny my aunt told me one day about an experience her mother had….
Monday, December 3, 2007
Back in the olden days, we all went to church at the same little country church, so I could relate to this story told by my aunt, although I’m sure it happened years before I was born.
It was always a common thing in the country just in casual conversation after the church service was over for the men folks to invite thus and so to come back to their house for dinner. I’m sure they gave little thought to whether their wives had enough prepared for company or just their families, but they still made it a habit each week. It all goes back to those days when you were leaving somebody and said, “Ya’ll come go home with us!” type of thing, most likely. Southerners could get themselves in a heap a trouble with those words. At least they could get their wives in a lot of trouble.
Well, one Sunday my(Great)Uncle Ben invited one of the church members and his family, who was also related in some way, shape or form, back to his house for dinner. Now Uncle Ben already had a houseful of liddle young’uns himself and here he goes inviting another family who also had a houseful of liddle ‘uns. For some reason, I’m pretty sure they gladly accepted his invitation.
Well, his wife didn’t exactly plan a meal for that many people that day, so she had to come up with something quick to feed that crowd. (Wonder what that conversation was like going home from church that day!?!?!)
So, Aunt Maudie decided she would pull out a box of salmon to help add to her meal. As soon as she saw the box of salmon come out, the invited lady guest made the comment, “Well, Aunt Maudie, I could a gone home and had salmon for lunch!”
I’m sure Aunt Maudie was very gracious in accepting the comments. Although she died when I was quite young, I still do remember her, and she was a very sweet, gentle soul, and I’m sure she remained quite polite to her very rude company.
Wow, how much I would have loved to have been invited for that meal at her house that day. I know, I probably wasn’t born yet!
Come to think about it, we must have been a raucous brood of four kids. I don’t remember but maybe once or twice being invited out to a meal away from home! Or maybe everybody was just busy entertaining those who had a whole gang of kids. We were a pretty small family when you compared us to some in the community, I guess.
I could share with you my own experience with ungrateful house guests, but that’s another story for another day. Eventually it becomes difficult to be nice, believe me!
And just in case you’re wondering, the aunt who relayed this story to me was really my cousin before she became my aunt…She married my Mother’s brother. So, no, there wasn’t any inbreeding here. Just to set the record straight!
Back in the olden days, we all went to church at the same little country church, so I could relate to this story told by my aunt, although I’m sure it happened years before I was born.
It was always a common thing in the country just in casual conversation after the church service was over for the men folks to invite thus and so to come back to their house for dinner. I’m sure they gave little thought to whether their wives had enough prepared for company or just their families, but they still made it a habit each week. It all goes back to those days when you were leaving somebody and said, “Ya’ll come go home with us!” type of thing, most likely. Southerners could get themselves in a heap a trouble with those words. At least they could get their wives in a lot of trouble.
Well, one Sunday my(Great)Uncle Ben invited one of the church members and his family, who was also related in some way, shape or form, back to his house for dinner. Now Uncle Ben already had a houseful of liddle young’uns himself and here he goes inviting another family who also had a houseful of liddle ‘uns. For some reason, I’m pretty sure they gladly accepted his invitation.
Well, his wife didn’t exactly plan a meal for that many people that day, so she had to come up with something quick to feed that crowd. (Wonder what that conversation was like going home from church that day!?!?!)
So, Aunt Maudie decided she would pull out a box of salmon to help add to her meal. As soon as she saw the box of salmon come out, the invited lady guest made the comment, “Well, Aunt Maudie, I could a gone home and had salmon for lunch!”
I’m sure Aunt Maudie was very gracious in accepting the comments. Although she died when I was quite young, I still do remember her, and she was a very sweet, gentle soul, and I’m sure she remained quite polite to her very rude company.
Wow, how much I would have loved to have been invited for that meal at her house that day. I know, I probably wasn’t born yet!
Come to think about it, we must have been a raucous brood of four kids. I don’t remember but maybe once or twice being invited out to a meal away from home! Or maybe everybody was just busy entertaining those who had a whole gang of kids. We were a pretty small family when you compared us to some in the community, I guess.
I could share with you my own experience with ungrateful house guests, but that’s another story for another day. Eventually it becomes difficult to be nice, believe me!
And just in case you’re wondering, the aunt who relayed this story to me was really my cousin before she became my aunt…She married my Mother’s brother. So, no, there wasn’t any inbreeding here. Just to set the record straight!
Sunday, December 2, 2007
I remember…
thirty years ago today. I was in the same hospital I had delivered my son. This occasion wasn’t the happy memories-type trip I had made when he was born.
Just after Thanksgiving in 1977 my son became sick with his first ever strep throat. It was probably one of the only times he had strep throat, though he did have other illnesses such as colds, etc., but this was his first major illness. He had just turned three the last of August.
I remember he was very ill, and I was afraid he had something more serious than a cold, because he had a high temperature and couldn’t keep anything on his little tummy. Not ice chips, no fluids, nothing. I, too was very sick at that time. I was throwing up, also. I had already had a disagreement the day before with a doctor on call at his pediatricians office and had threatened to take him in to the emergency room if he didn't help me. He finally phoned in a prescription and he got a little better. I begged him to please be good because I wasn’t feeling good either, and bless his little heart, he was the sweetest little sick boy in the world.
Later in the afternoon I kept getting sicker and sicker. I was having severe back pains and nothing helped relieve them. Finally I called my OB-GYN and told him I was having severe back pains, and that I was pretty sure I was pregnant. He was concerned enough to send me to the hospital to be checked out. He thought I could either be having a miscarriage or kidney stones. After my husband came home from work he carried me in to the hospital.
My poor little son, already feeling so miserable himself, unable to keep anything down on his little tummy, and he had to be dragged to the hospital because his mommy wasn’t feeling well either. He was such a sweetheart, I must say.
My husband had called my sister and her husband, hoping maybe they could take care of our son while he was keeping watch over me at the hospital. They had a child also, and didn’t want her to get sick with his strep throat, so my husband had to take our son into the room with me. They came down to the hospital, though and while standing outside the door, they happened to hear me telling anybody and everybody who would listen that I was sure I was pregnant and there would be no x-rays. Of course, I didn’t know they had heard it because I had not told anyone except the hospital staff and of course my husband knew.
They finally admitted me, gave me some good old Demerol and I was out of it for a while. Actually, just as soon as the needle hit my arm, I knew nothing else for a while. I'm not a medicine taker, but that was some powerful stuff, I tell you.
The funny thing was just before they knocked me out, my three-year-old son with his arm around his Daddy’s neck was hanging on to his Daddy’s ear with his left hand while he had his little right thumb in his mouth. When he saw the doctor, he unplugged that little mouth and pointed that little finger at the doctor and told him, “If my mommy doesn’t take her medicine like she’s supposed to, you’ll just have to force it down her!” Even in all that pain I had to laugh. He had been forced a few times to take his horrible medicine, himself, and he knew exactly what the doctor needed to do! That said, the little thumb went back into his mouth and he watched as they took care of his mommy.
My husband went back home later that night and took care of my little boy. He was even stopped by the county police on the way back home for drunk driving. That wouldn’t be funny except my husband is a teetotaler. Never a sip of anything like that had made it’s way past his lips. That was in the days before seat belts were required for either adults and children and the story I heard (and I can see it in my mind, because I knew the scenario normally) was that my son was still standing by his Daddy in the seat when the police stopped him. They realized he wasn’t really drunk or drinking and sent him on his way. They told him he was driving so close to the right hand side of the road they believed he was drinking. Apparently that’s what people do when they’re drunk to keep from being found out.
Fast forward to the next morning…early before the telephone lines were opened to anybody outside, a nurse came in and told me I had a call from my sister. Don’t ask. She was notorious for pushing her way into whatever she wanted, if she wanted It badly enough. Case in point, me in recovery room after my son’s birth. Only she could find me!
Anyway, I guess they decided at the nurses’ desk that she wasn’t going to go away, they may as well put the call through. In the meantime, someone comes up with a wheelchair to take me to who knows where. She hears the conversation. I asked where they were taking me. It was down to x-ray. No, I wasn’t going to x-ray. I had already told them. She had heard the night before when I told them I was sure I was pregnant so she got off the phone with me and instantly called my husband, who was trying to catch up on some rest he was missing. She told him he needed to get up to the hospital immediately. Which he did.
So, I’m refusing to go downstairs, because I had already told them a number of times I was pregnant. They had taken my blood to confirm it the night before, but no one had told me the results. This was back in the days when they had to kill the rabbit (at least that’s what we were told) to confirm you were pregnant, only they couldn’t tell early on at all. I was way too early for them to determine by the rabbit test, but a blood test was more likely to show if I was or not. But no one would tell me. Wait for my OB-GYN to talk to me. He kept avoiding me. So did the Urologist.
So, I stayed in the room, hooked up to I.V.’s until finally the staff said the Urologist said he wasn’t going to treat me unless I had x-rays to see if I had kidney stones. Well, he didn’t have to tell me that because I had already fired him, especially if he couldn’t wait on a simple pregnancy test. I wasn’t about to risk my baby’s life over an x-ray to soothe his mind.
They kept pumping the fluids and checking the urine, straining every drop looking for kidney stones. Finally, one of the nurses came into the room and she was really happy. She told me I had finally passed some kidney stones and she was so glad for me because she said if I hadn’t passed them very soon they would have had to do surgery on me and I would have lost my baby. So, they did know I was pregnant.
I didn’t have to have x-rays or surgery. And best of all, I didn’t lose my baby. But I did have to fight for her, even though I didn’t know what she would be at that time. She was born in July a healthy, screaming, fighting little mess and I couldn’t have been happier. I don’t know what I would have done had things not worked out like they did. I don’t know what I would do without my sweet daughter. The Lord knew she was supposed to be here. I knew it, too.
I never went to see that OB-GYN without him shaking his head and saying, “I just don’t know how you knew you were pregnant.” I knew. I knew!
So, that’s how I spent this day 30 years ago. In the hospital, getting news that I indeed was pregnant and had passed some kidney stones. I call her my little 7 lbs. 12 oz. “Kid-ney stone”. The one that took months to pass.
Gee, I also missed a Marzapan class my friend and I were enrolled in. Never did take that course!
Just after Thanksgiving in 1977 my son became sick with his first ever strep throat. It was probably one of the only times he had strep throat, though he did have other illnesses such as colds, etc., but this was his first major illness. He had just turned three the last of August.
I remember he was very ill, and I was afraid he had something more serious than a cold, because he had a high temperature and couldn’t keep anything on his little tummy. Not ice chips, no fluids, nothing. I, too was very sick at that time. I was throwing up, also. I had already had a disagreement the day before with a doctor on call at his pediatricians office and had threatened to take him in to the emergency room if he didn't help me. He finally phoned in a prescription and he got a little better. I begged him to please be good because I wasn’t feeling good either, and bless his little heart, he was the sweetest little sick boy in the world.
Later in the afternoon I kept getting sicker and sicker. I was having severe back pains and nothing helped relieve them. Finally I called my OB-GYN and told him I was having severe back pains, and that I was pretty sure I was pregnant. He was concerned enough to send me to the hospital to be checked out. He thought I could either be having a miscarriage or kidney stones. After my husband came home from work he carried me in to the hospital.
My poor little son, already feeling so miserable himself, unable to keep anything down on his little tummy, and he had to be dragged to the hospital because his mommy wasn’t feeling well either. He was such a sweetheart, I must say.
My husband had called my sister and her husband, hoping maybe they could take care of our son while he was keeping watch over me at the hospital. They had a child also, and didn’t want her to get sick with his strep throat, so my husband had to take our son into the room with me. They came down to the hospital, though and while standing outside the door, they happened to hear me telling anybody and everybody who would listen that I was sure I was pregnant and there would be no x-rays. Of course, I didn’t know they had heard it because I had not told anyone except the hospital staff and of course my husband knew.
They finally admitted me, gave me some good old Demerol and I was out of it for a while. Actually, just as soon as the needle hit my arm, I knew nothing else for a while. I'm not a medicine taker, but that was some powerful stuff, I tell you.
The funny thing was just before they knocked me out, my three-year-old son with his arm around his Daddy’s neck was hanging on to his Daddy’s ear with his left hand while he had his little right thumb in his mouth. When he saw the doctor, he unplugged that little mouth and pointed that little finger at the doctor and told him, “If my mommy doesn’t take her medicine like she’s supposed to, you’ll just have to force it down her!” Even in all that pain I had to laugh. He had been forced a few times to take his horrible medicine, himself, and he knew exactly what the doctor needed to do! That said, the little thumb went back into his mouth and he watched as they took care of his mommy.
My husband went back home later that night and took care of my little boy. He was even stopped by the county police on the way back home for drunk driving. That wouldn’t be funny except my husband is a teetotaler. Never a sip of anything like that had made it’s way past his lips. That was in the days before seat belts were required for either adults and children and the story I heard (and I can see it in my mind, because I knew the scenario normally) was that my son was still standing by his Daddy in the seat when the police stopped him. They realized he wasn’t really drunk or drinking and sent him on his way. They told him he was driving so close to the right hand side of the road they believed he was drinking. Apparently that’s what people do when they’re drunk to keep from being found out.
Fast forward to the next morning…early before the telephone lines were opened to anybody outside, a nurse came in and told me I had a call from my sister. Don’t ask. She was notorious for pushing her way into whatever she wanted, if she wanted It badly enough. Case in point, me in recovery room after my son’s birth. Only she could find me!
Anyway, I guess they decided at the nurses’ desk that she wasn’t going to go away, they may as well put the call through. In the meantime, someone comes up with a wheelchair to take me to who knows where. She hears the conversation. I asked where they were taking me. It was down to x-ray. No, I wasn’t going to x-ray. I had already told them. She had heard the night before when I told them I was sure I was pregnant so she got off the phone with me and instantly called my husband, who was trying to catch up on some rest he was missing. She told him he needed to get up to the hospital immediately. Which he did.
So, I’m refusing to go downstairs, because I had already told them a number of times I was pregnant. They had taken my blood to confirm it the night before, but no one had told me the results. This was back in the days when they had to kill the rabbit (at least that’s what we were told) to confirm you were pregnant, only they couldn’t tell early on at all. I was way too early for them to determine by the rabbit test, but a blood test was more likely to show if I was or not. But no one would tell me. Wait for my OB-GYN to talk to me. He kept avoiding me. So did the Urologist.
So, I stayed in the room, hooked up to I.V.’s until finally the staff said the Urologist said he wasn’t going to treat me unless I had x-rays to see if I had kidney stones. Well, he didn’t have to tell me that because I had already fired him, especially if he couldn’t wait on a simple pregnancy test. I wasn’t about to risk my baby’s life over an x-ray to soothe his mind.
They kept pumping the fluids and checking the urine, straining every drop looking for kidney stones. Finally, one of the nurses came into the room and she was really happy. She told me I had finally passed some kidney stones and she was so glad for me because she said if I hadn’t passed them very soon they would have had to do surgery on me and I would have lost my baby. So, they did know I was pregnant.
I didn’t have to have x-rays or surgery. And best of all, I didn’t lose my baby. But I did have to fight for her, even though I didn’t know what she would be at that time. She was born in July a healthy, screaming, fighting little mess and I couldn’t have been happier. I don’t know what I would have done had things not worked out like they did. I don’t know what I would do without my sweet daughter. The Lord knew she was supposed to be here. I knew it, too.
I never went to see that OB-GYN without him shaking his head and saying, “I just don’t know how you knew you were pregnant.” I knew. I knew!
So, that’s how I spent this day 30 years ago. In the hospital, getting news that I indeed was pregnant and had passed some kidney stones. I call her my little 7 lbs. 12 oz. “Kid-ney stone”. The one that took months to pass.
Gee, I also missed a Marzapan class my friend and I were enrolled in. Never did take that course!
What did we do today?
Saturday, December 1, 2007
Just the usual routine of walking around the mall a couple of times trying to get our exercise then back home and settled in doing much of nothing.
We did watch the Tennessee-LSU football game on television later in the afternoon. It was for the SEC title. We shouted and screamed loudly hoping they would come through and win.
We felt obligated to pull for Tennessee. Some of our daughter and her husband’s money went there several years ago when he got his master’s degree. You hate to see good money go down the drain, so you have to hope they’ll stay in business. (A good bit of my money went into that town, too, because I kept A. C. Moore and the other scrapbooking stores in business every trip we made up there. Even some in nearby Seiverville, TN.) Besides The Little Princesses’ Daddy thinks he wants his little darling to go to school there and maybe even be a cheerleader. Yeah, right! Talk to me in about 17 or 18 more years, Daddy. I predict you will insist her Mommy home school her so she doesn’t have to leave home, much less the state. Poor baby. She will have to run away from home to eat out at McDonald’s! I don’t see Knoxville as being her destination for college, unless the two of you are going to relocate there yourselves.
Anyway, the hollering and screaming was to no avail and Tennessee lost to LSU. Too bad. It’s about the only football team I can stand watching. But they did themselves proud last week end, didn’t they? Too bad they couldn’t have continued this week end. Oh well.
Just the usual routine of walking around the mall a couple of times trying to get our exercise then back home and settled in doing much of nothing.
We did watch the Tennessee-LSU football game on television later in the afternoon. It was for the SEC title. We shouted and screamed loudly hoping they would come through and win.
We felt obligated to pull for Tennessee. Some of our daughter and her husband’s money went there several years ago when he got his master’s degree. You hate to see good money go down the drain, so you have to hope they’ll stay in business. (A good bit of my money went into that town, too, because I kept A. C. Moore and the other scrapbooking stores in business every trip we made up there. Even some in nearby Seiverville, TN.) Besides The Little Princesses’ Daddy thinks he wants his little darling to go to school there and maybe even be a cheerleader. Yeah, right! Talk to me in about 17 or 18 more years, Daddy. I predict you will insist her Mommy home school her so she doesn’t have to leave home, much less the state. Poor baby. She will have to run away from home to eat out at McDonald’s! I don’t see Knoxville as being her destination for college, unless the two of you are going to relocate there yourselves.
Anyway, the hollering and screaming was to no avail and Tennessee lost to LSU. Too bad. It’s about the only football team I can stand watching. But they did themselves proud last week end, didn’t they? Too bad they couldn’t have continued this week end. Oh well.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Granddaddy and I got out to walk this morning with my sister and her husband. This gave the little one a chance to get her morning nap and her mother a chance to have a little time she needed to gather her thoughts again.
They are having company this week end. A cousin on The Little Princesses’ Daddy’s side is coming down for a visit, but first they are meeting with Daddy to see about getting a Christmas tree. It will be no Christmas tree farm for the Little Princess this year. And such a lovely day it is for Christmas tree hunting. Maybe another year and she’ll be really excited about it.
Granddaddy met his brother for lunch. He came into town to help his son move into a new house. Things didn’t work out for us to get together last night. He was so late getting in and all of us were getting a bit hungry and grumpy (the Little Princess, especially), we decided it would be best just to let Granddaddy meet him for lunch today.
The Little Princess can really get an attitude. She expresses her little self in a noisy manner when she doesn’t get what she wants. I’m thinking it’s that attitude hidden behind what was supposed to be that red hair. It’s finally showing up. She scrunches her little face up and really lets loose with her noises when she’s not happy!
And did I mention that teeth grinding? She will have those six little teeth ground down to stumps if she doesn’t stop. Drives me insane. It’s not just a little grinding, it’s major grinding! Hope she outgrows that in a hurry!
I put some yogurt in her dish. Yes,the whole container at once. Her mommy protested so much I had to mess up another dish just to divide it up. She attacked it instantly with her two little hands. Strawberry yogurt was everywhere. But she
was so cute. I stuck a few Cheerios on the tip of her nose and the side of her face and on her chin. She didn't seem to mind at all. Just let me do my thing. She kept eating and smiled about it.
When she finishes she starts to drop food over the side. She watches her mother or daddy to see if she can do it before the catch her. She's a determined little rascal. She maintains eye contact. I think she believes that as long as she keeps their eyes on her they won't see her drop it. But she still pushes the buttons. Then, of course, Mommy is the spoil sport and takes her food away. But at least she expressed herself by dropping it while they were still looking at her! Funny girl. You're just practicing for defiance in the future, aren't you?
It wasn’t a real eventful day today. I’m sure there is something I should report on about the Little Princess, but other than the teeth grinding that’s about all I can think of.
She and Mommy left shortly after lunch. Guess what I did? I recuperated! At least partially. Got a good nap at least.
See you next week Little Princess. Love you.
They are having company this week end. A cousin on The Little Princesses’ Daddy’s side is coming down for a visit, but first they are meeting with Daddy to see about getting a Christmas tree. It will be no Christmas tree farm for the Little Princess this year. And such a lovely day it is for Christmas tree hunting. Maybe another year and she’ll be really excited about it.
Granddaddy met his brother for lunch. He came into town to help his son move into a new house. Things didn’t work out for us to get together last night. He was so late getting in and all of us were getting a bit hungry and grumpy (the Little Princess, especially), we decided it would be best just to let Granddaddy meet him for lunch today.
The Little Princess can really get an attitude. She expresses her little self in a noisy manner when she doesn’t get what she wants. I’m thinking it’s that attitude hidden behind what was supposed to be that red hair. It’s finally showing up. She scrunches her little face up and really lets loose with her noises when she’s not happy!
And did I mention that teeth grinding? She will have those six little teeth ground down to stumps if she doesn’t stop. Drives me insane. It’s not just a little grinding, it’s major grinding! Hope she outgrows that in a hurry!
I put some yogurt in her dish. Yes,the whole container at once. Her mommy protested so much I had to mess up another dish just to divide it up. She attacked it instantly with her two little hands. Strawberry yogurt was everywhere. But she
was so cute. I stuck a few Cheerios on the tip of her nose and the side of her face and on her chin. She didn't seem to mind at all. Just let me do my thing. She kept eating and smiled about it.
When she finishes she starts to drop food over the side. She watches her mother or daddy to see if she can do it before the catch her. She's a determined little rascal. She maintains eye contact. I think she believes that as long as she keeps their eyes on her they won't see her drop it. But she still pushes the buttons. Then, of course, Mommy is the spoil sport and takes her food away. But at least she expressed herself by dropping it while they were still looking at her! Funny girl. You're just practicing for defiance in the future, aren't you?
It wasn’t a real eventful day today. I’m sure there is something I should report on about the Little Princess, but other than the teeth grinding that’s about all I can think of.
She and Mommy left shortly after lunch. Guess what I did? I recuperated! At least partially. Got a good nap at least.
See you next week Little Princess. Love you.
You again, Grandmomma and Granddaddy???
Thursday, November 29, 2007
The Little Princess and her Mommy came over to visit us this afternoon. I’m not sure how she can stand to see us another day this week. We’ve spent two whole days with her, Monday and Wednesday, but she came again. There weren't any major meltdowns along the way, but I wouldn't have been surprised if there had been.
We took her to Wal-Mart with us (Granddaddy was still recuperating from the previous two days) while her mommy returned about a million jars of baby food that The Little Princess has outgrown and now has decided she will not eat baby food any more.
Well, I guess there may have been $20 dollars worth, plus a bunch of other stuff that her mommy had accumulated around her house and finally decided she really didn’t need after all..
That was an interesting little event in and of itself. As we checked in at the door, the woman with the little “pricing gun” decided each one had to be accounted for and rung up on the spot to prevent the people In customer service from being inconvenienced, I suppose. Some things did not appear to register as a return (there was the constant little tinny sound all along, but the noise that made the difference didn’t make its sound on every items she was returning. She and I both agreed we didn’t hear that magic sound on every item, even though I did see the lady punch in a few things…it just didn’t have the right sound to it.
Mommy decided she would have customer service count each item over again. C.S. decided she wouldn’t do a refund on the items unless Mommy had a receipt. She only had a receipt on some items she had bought prior to 90 days. Finally C.S. caught the man who appeared to be the manager or at least he seemed to be one who could be responsible for making a decision. After explaining her situation he didn’t seem too sympathetic. He asked if she had a receipt. She showed him the one she had for some of the stuff that was over 90 days old and he still didn’t seem too receptive. He offered to give her a swap on the food. Well, duh! She was returning it because the Little Princess wouldn’t eat baby food anymore. Maybe a swap on other baby items? That didn’t satisfy her either because she didn’t need more baby stuff at this point. She explained to him she did a lot of business with Wal-Mart each week, and she was pretty persistent. He finally decided he would do it this one time. She ended up returning around $40 dollars worth of stuff. She explained to him he could see the baby food hadn’t been opened and the date was still good on it. It was still saleable. I think she got a credit on her charge card for some of it and the rest on a gift certificate.
There were moments I felt like falling through a crack in the floor, but I can’t fault her too much. She is her mother’s daughter and I taught her to stand up for what she believed was right. And it wasn’t like she had stolen the merchandise. She had just kept it a little past the 90-day period, perhaps.
Thank goodness the Little Princess was in her usual happy mode and was flashing that dimpled little smile to anyone who would look at her. She is the most adorable little girl you could ever hope to be related to. Most days.
It was back home again for The Little Princess to take her afternoon nap. It was already a little after four o’clock. She had an hour and a half nap earlier in the morning and by the time we got back home she decided it wasn’t necessary for her to have a nap in the afternoon, so after a bit of attempting to get her to sleep her Mommy finally gave it up and took her shopping to the local discount mall. This was to return a bunch of merchandise she had bought, but since The Little Princess has so many clothes already she couldn’t possibly wear all the other outfits and had outgrown them, so they needed to be returned. (Granddaddy's still recuperating!)
It was on to Carter’s and then to Osh Kosh By Gosh without having to buy anything from them after receiving her credits. But she spotted the Stride Rite Shoe Store almost across the way from Osh Kosh By Gosh and she thought maybe The Little Princess could use a pair of the expensive shoes instead of those knock offs from Tar-jay’ As luck would have it, she found a couple of pairs of cute shoes. One pair of real little baby shoes like you’re supposed to wear and another little pair of black patent leather shoes.
The girl was very patient and helped quite a bit getting The Little Princess some proper fitting shoes. She mentioned that they are putting a different kind of sole on the baby shoes now than when my kids were little. They had the kind like men’s nice shoes are made of on the bottom. Those hard bottoms have been replaced by something more like soft tennis shoe type leather. She said the doctors have recommended little ones don’t need those hard soles like they used to wear. Why didn’t they invent those things years earlier. I remember quite a few times getting beaten and battered by those hard little soles on those shoes!
It was necessary to let The Little Princess out of her stroller so she could put her full weight on her new shoes to ensure a proper fit. That was a big mistake. Little princess (1) was elated to be out of the stroller and (2) loved toddling around in her nifty new shoes. She covered that store with such glee it was hard to believe a child could love either her freedom or her new shoes that much! She was all over that store in those little baby shoes.
At the back of the store there was a line of little shoe prints in many different sizes from a size 6 through a child’s size 4, in a number of different colors. I put my foot onto one of the bigger prints and that was all The Little Princess needed. She wanted to put her little foot print in each of them, too. She was a riot. She catches on so fast and loves doing her own little thing.
I finally got her distracted enough to move past a door in the back of the store, but it caught her attention and since it was only half-way closed, she leaned over forward in a belly bend and peeked in. It was so much fun watching her. She was so cute. I thought she would surely tip over! Just a nosy little 13 month old.
Mommy caught up with her and attempted to put on the little black patent leather shoes she had found. Little Princess wanted nothing to do with it. She loved her little new white shoes and nobody was going to take them away from her. She squirmed, she squealed until finally an exhausted Mommy prevailed and off came the white shoes and on went the little black patent leather ones. She loved those, too. All over the store, past the mirrors, stopping to take a peek and communicate with the little girl in the mirror and her grandmother, on toward the doors leading to center of the mall. She was indeed a handful trying to keep up with.
Finally, two pair of new shoes and a pair of old-fashioned little inventions made to keep baby from untying her shoes and with bells on them so you could at least guess where she was, later we worked our way to The Children’s Place. She was having nothing to do with being put back into that stroller. She was to be chased all over that store with me in tow. She stopped to clean up the floors of that store, and believe me they needed some help. She found every tag, every piece of tissue, every stray thread, stray clothes hangers, gum wrappers, what appeared to be a cracker wrapper, and any other thing she could find to pick up. She would hand them to me. She reminded me so much of her mother when she was little. Her Mommy would constantly spend time straightening all the books or anything else that was in the check-out area of K-Mart stores. I had to remind her that they paid people to do that and she wasn’t the one on the payroll. It never helped. She continued to carry on that habit for many years, until she got old enough to clean, then it wasn’t any fun anymore.
The Little Princess wanted nothing to do with her Mommy trying a new pretty pink coat on her. She was too busy and wanted to move on. Finally we did move on. All three of us before we were asked to leave. On to Burlington Coat Factory where her Mommy decided she needed to check for that coat there at Burlington. And again, it was limp as wet spaghetti for The Little Princess. She didn’t want to stand. She didn’t want to cooperate. She wanted to fall onto the floor and stay here. Arms raised, slide through, down to the floor. She was a re-incarnate from the '60's war protesters!
Finally, with a cute little pink coat and a busy little toddler in tow we started out the door. The Little Princess had finally agreed to let us put her back into the stroller. I had promised her she and I would walk around the store while Mommy made the purchase. Would you believe as soon as we both or all three made it through the door the alarm goes off. Mommy had to return to the cashier's counter. They had failed to remove that little inky thing that messes up your clothes if they don’t remove it before you leave the store. Or better known as the theft protection devise.
The Little Princess wasn’t real happy about being fastened into that carseat again, but she managed to survive. Not without a bit of fussing on the way home, though. It was almost 7:30 and about 1 ½ hours past her meal time. She had forgotten about it until we started home, then she remembered she was both sleepy and hungry. I think she was afraid she would miss a meal because she was so sleepy. She managed to stay awake until we got home and fed her a bit or two.
Then her Daddy came by to see her because she and her Mommy were spending the night with us. Daddy had a photography class tonight and it was near our house so it was convenient for him to come by and spend some time with his precious little girl and her mother. He was headed back to the office to do some more work himself and as soon as The Little Princess went to bed her Mommy was headed over to her office to get some work done.
Before she settled in for the night, though, she was so funny to watch her new little antics. She’s learning to Shake, shake, shake your booty and holds on to the table or whatever is in her way and shakes her little self. She tried to jump a bit and shake it.
She’s getting very good at squatting and pulling her little self from a sitting position into a standing one.
Her Daddy said she picked up an almost full 5 lbs. bag of flour from my storage spot. She’s very strong and determined.
Another thing I failed to make note of, but was kinda funny to me...she has complications at time and difficulty getting poopy diapers (that's not the funny part). Yesterday I heard her straining and handed her my hand and told her to hold on and squeeze hard. She did and made her little straining, grunting noises like she was trying so hard to go to the bathroom.
I did the same for her today and she took my hand and strained like she was getting a B.M. She was so funny. She did the same thing in the car on the way home tonight as I was telling her mother about what had happened. She really wasn’t trying to get a poopy diaper, but she understood and remember our little ritual from the day before. She is indeed a smart little cookie and a very fast learner.
I can’t imagine our lives without that little sweetheart. Keep growing and getting more precious every day, Little Princess. You make our lives complete.
Her Mommy has been mentioning all day that I look a bit tired and she wonders if I’ve been tired out from keeping The Little Princess this week. Well, I guess there could be a grain of truth in that, but she’s still so much fun.
Oh,and Granddaddy's still recuperating!
The Little Princess and her Mommy came over to visit us this afternoon. I’m not sure how she can stand to see us another day this week. We’ve spent two whole days with her, Monday and Wednesday, but she came again. There weren't any major meltdowns along the way, but I wouldn't have been surprised if there had been.
We took her to Wal-Mart with us (Granddaddy was still recuperating from the previous two days) while her mommy returned about a million jars of baby food that The Little Princess has outgrown and now has decided she will not eat baby food any more.
Well, I guess there may have been $20 dollars worth, plus a bunch of other stuff that her mommy had accumulated around her house and finally decided she really didn’t need after all..
That was an interesting little event in and of itself. As we checked in at the door, the woman with the little “pricing gun” decided each one had to be accounted for and rung up on the spot to prevent the people In customer service from being inconvenienced, I suppose. Some things did not appear to register as a return (there was the constant little tinny sound all along, but the noise that made the difference didn’t make its sound on every items she was returning. She and I both agreed we didn’t hear that magic sound on every item, even though I did see the lady punch in a few things…it just didn’t have the right sound to it.
Mommy decided she would have customer service count each item over again. C.S. decided she wouldn’t do a refund on the items unless Mommy had a receipt. She only had a receipt on some items she had bought prior to 90 days. Finally C.S. caught the man who appeared to be the manager or at least he seemed to be one who could be responsible for making a decision. After explaining her situation he didn’t seem too sympathetic. He asked if she had a receipt. She showed him the one she had for some of the stuff that was over 90 days old and he still didn’t seem too receptive. He offered to give her a swap on the food. Well, duh! She was returning it because the Little Princess wouldn’t eat baby food anymore. Maybe a swap on other baby items? That didn’t satisfy her either because she didn’t need more baby stuff at this point. She explained to him she did a lot of business with Wal-Mart each week, and she was pretty persistent. He finally decided he would do it this one time. She ended up returning around $40 dollars worth of stuff. She explained to him he could see the baby food hadn’t been opened and the date was still good on it. It was still saleable. I think she got a credit on her charge card for some of it and the rest on a gift certificate.
There were moments I felt like falling through a crack in the floor, but I can’t fault her too much. She is her mother’s daughter and I taught her to stand up for what she believed was right. And it wasn’t like she had stolen the merchandise. She had just kept it a little past the 90-day period, perhaps.
Thank goodness the Little Princess was in her usual happy mode and was flashing that dimpled little smile to anyone who would look at her. She is the most adorable little girl you could ever hope to be related to. Most days.
It was back home again for The Little Princess to take her afternoon nap. It was already a little after four o’clock. She had an hour and a half nap earlier in the morning and by the time we got back home she decided it wasn’t necessary for her to have a nap in the afternoon, so after a bit of attempting to get her to sleep her Mommy finally gave it up and took her shopping to the local discount mall. This was to return a bunch of merchandise she had bought, but since The Little Princess has so many clothes already she couldn’t possibly wear all the other outfits and had outgrown them, so they needed to be returned. (Granddaddy's still recuperating!)
It was on to Carter’s and then to Osh Kosh By Gosh without having to buy anything from them after receiving her credits. But she spotted the Stride Rite Shoe Store almost across the way from Osh Kosh By Gosh and she thought maybe The Little Princess could use a pair of the expensive shoes instead of those knock offs from Tar-jay’ As luck would have it, she found a couple of pairs of cute shoes. One pair of real little baby shoes like you’re supposed to wear and another little pair of black patent leather shoes.
The girl was very patient and helped quite a bit getting The Little Princess some proper fitting shoes. She mentioned that they are putting a different kind of sole on the baby shoes now than when my kids were little. They had the kind like men’s nice shoes are made of on the bottom. Those hard bottoms have been replaced by something more like soft tennis shoe type leather. She said the doctors have recommended little ones don’t need those hard soles like they used to wear. Why didn’t they invent those things years earlier. I remember quite a few times getting beaten and battered by those hard little soles on those shoes!
It was necessary to let The Little Princess out of her stroller so she could put her full weight on her new shoes to ensure a proper fit. That was a big mistake. Little princess (1) was elated to be out of the stroller and (2) loved toddling around in her nifty new shoes. She covered that store with such glee it was hard to believe a child could love either her freedom or her new shoes that much! She was all over that store in those little baby shoes.
At the back of the store there was a line of little shoe prints in many different sizes from a size 6 through a child’s size 4, in a number of different colors. I put my foot onto one of the bigger prints and that was all The Little Princess needed. She wanted to put her little foot print in each of them, too. She was a riot. She catches on so fast and loves doing her own little thing.
I finally got her distracted enough to move past a door in the back of the store, but it caught her attention and since it was only half-way closed, she leaned over forward in a belly bend and peeked in. It was so much fun watching her. She was so cute. I thought she would surely tip over! Just a nosy little 13 month old.
Mommy caught up with her and attempted to put on the little black patent leather shoes she had found. Little Princess wanted nothing to do with it. She loved her little new white shoes and nobody was going to take them away from her. She squirmed, she squealed until finally an exhausted Mommy prevailed and off came the white shoes and on went the little black patent leather ones. She loved those, too. All over the store, past the mirrors, stopping to take a peek and communicate with the little girl in the mirror and her grandmother, on toward the doors leading to center of the mall. She was indeed a handful trying to keep up with.
Finally, two pair of new shoes and a pair of old-fashioned little inventions made to keep baby from untying her shoes and with bells on them so you could at least guess where she was, later we worked our way to The Children’s Place. She was having nothing to do with being put back into that stroller. She was to be chased all over that store with me in tow. She stopped to clean up the floors of that store, and believe me they needed some help. She found every tag, every piece of tissue, every stray thread, stray clothes hangers, gum wrappers, what appeared to be a cracker wrapper, and any other thing she could find to pick up. She would hand them to me. She reminded me so much of her mother when she was little. Her Mommy would constantly spend time straightening all the books or anything else that was in the check-out area of K-Mart stores. I had to remind her that they paid people to do that and she wasn’t the one on the payroll. It never helped. She continued to carry on that habit for many years, until she got old enough to clean, then it wasn’t any fun anymore.
The Little Princess wanted nothing to do with her Mommy trying a new pretty pink coat on her. She was too busy and wanted to move on. Finally we did move on. All three of us before we were asked to leave. On to Burlington Coat Factory where her Mommy decided she needed to check for that coat there at Burlington. And again, it was limp as wet spaghetti for The Little Princess. She didn’t want to stand. She didn’t want to cooperate. She wanted to fall onto the floor and stay here. Arms raised, slide through, down to the floor. She was a re-incarnate from the '60's war protesters!
Finally, with a cute little pink coat and a busy little toddler in tow we started out the door. The Little Princess had finally agreed to let us put her back into the stroller. I had promised her she and I would walk around the store while Mommy made the purchase. Would you believe as soon as we both or all three made it through the door the alarm goes off. Mommy had to return to the cashier's counter. They had failed to remove that little inky thing that messes up your clothes if they don’t remove it before you leave the store. Or better known as the theft protection devise.
The Little Princess wasn’t real happy about being fastened into that carseat again, but she managed to survive. Not without a bit of fussing on the way home, though. It was almost 7:30 and about 1 ½ hours past her meal time. She had forgotten about it until we started home, then she remembered she was both sleepy and hungry. I think she was afraid she would miss a meal because she was so sleepy. She managed to stay awake until we got home and fed her a bit or two.
Then her Daddy came by to see her because she and her Mommy were spending the night with us. Daddy had a photography class tonight and it was near our house so it was convenient for him to come by and spend some time with his precious little girl and her mother. He was headed back to the office to do some more work himself and as soon as The Little Princess went to bed her Mommy was headed over to her office to get some work done.
Before she settled in for the night, though, she was so funny to watch her new little antics. She’s learning to Shake, shake, shake your booty and holds on to the table or whatever is in her way and shakes her little self. She tried to jump a bit and shake it.
She’s getting very good at squatting and pulling her little self from a sitting position into a standing one.
Her Daddy said she picked up an almost full 5 lbs. bag of flour from my storage spot. She’s very strong and determined.
Another thing I failed to make note of, but was kinda funny to me...she has complications at time and difficulty getting poopy diapers (that's not the funny part). Yesterday I heard her straining and handed her my hand and told her to hold on and squeeze hard. She did and made her little straining, grunting noises like she was trying so hard to go to the bathroom.
I did the same for her today and she took my hand and strained like she was getting a B.M. She was so funny. She did the same thing in the car on the way home tonight as I was telling her mother about what had happened. She really wasn’t trying to get a poopy diaper, but she understood and remember our little ritual from the day before. She is indeed a smart little cookie and a very fast learner.
I can’t imagine our lives without that little sweetheart. Keep growing and getting more precious every day, Little Princess. You make our lives complete.
Her Mommy has been mentioning all day that I look a bit tired and she wonders if I’ve been tired out from keeping The Little Princess this week. Well, I guess there could be a grain of truth in that, but she’s still so much fun.
Oh,and Granddaddy's still recuperating!
Granddaddy and Grandmomma reporting for duty...
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
We thought we were supposed to be at The Little Princesses’ house today at 11:30. Mommy called and said we were to report for duty at 9:30. She had a beauty appointment before her meeting for a staff meeting at the office.
Mommy called at around 12:00 and told me she was supposed to be there at 1:00, she guessed and had gotten the time wrong. She was going to work for an hour before the meeting and then would be back home around 3:00 or 3:30, depending on what time she could sneak out of the office.
The following is a a list of some of the fun things we did today:
I was straightening up in the kitchen when I heard The Little Princess coming through the office calling, “Ganmomma!” Very plainly. She was looking for me. And found me.
She has found the buttons on our clothes. She points to hers and mine and Granddaddy’s. Anything with buttons she likes to point out. And just smiles so big.
She was back in the bathroom again today trying out the water faucet. And she put her little hand underneath. I worry about it because the hot water is nearest to her and it won’t take long to heat up and burn that sweet baby’s hand.
She and I were trying to get her to sleep…No, I was trying to get her to sleep...She was enjoying reading her books. She would take my pointing finger with her hand over my hand and moved it about on the book. I guess she got bored or tired of pointing to it alone, or maybe she thought I needed to be more pro-active in the book reading session.
Her Mommy says their routine is to read a book, share the book with Teddy Bear and Carly, her new Cabbage Patch newborn baby she got from Uncle Ken and Aunt Katie for her birthday, and whatever else she deems necessary. And, of course, her paci, which is only allowed at nap time or bedtime and sometimes at melt-down time. With me it was drop a book, pick it up, drop Teddy, pick him up, drop Carly, and on and on until one of us is worn out and it isn’t the Little Princess. She’s getting taller now and it’s difficult to see over her little head. Music from the CD must be playing in the background, repeat button pushed at least two times (I punched an extra few times just to be on the safe side.) Oh, and her noise-maker needs to be on.
Some of the routine helped a little and she was more satisfied today than yesterday, but she still fights those naps. One time I checked on her and there she stands with her face to the wall. I knew then she had dropped that silly pacifier overboard again, just like yesterday. I had to get on my hands and knees and fish that thing out from under the bed. All the time, I was telling her, that was it...no more paci if she drops it over again! She doesn't want to sleep because she’s sure we’re having more fun than she is.
Later in the day we took her out for lunch at The Piccadilly Cafeteria. She was an angel. She ate with her little fingers just like you would expect and ate quite a lunch for a change. It’s not every day a girl gets to eat Carrot Souffle’, yummy macaroni and cheese, fried okra and pinto beans. Ok, so she gets the pinto beans occasionally, but the sweet stuff and high carb foods are not a part of her daily diet. So she really chowed down. Sometimes I would feed her some of her food by placing it on her spoon (it had to be sticky enough to hold on) and she would tip that spoon upside down to her little mouth and most times it would go right where it was supposed to go. You may remember this was a trick we learned yesterday. But the hand is faster when you’re hungry. Skip that nonsense of using spoons.
She loves to observe. Anything that is where her little back is turned to, she's sure there's something more interesting going on behind her. I turn her the way I think she will see the most activity and something totally different will catch her eye and she squirms around in that seat, covering the cloth seat her mommy insists we carry, and smears it with mac and cheese, carrot soufflé, etc.
She finished her meal off with her usual round of Cheerios. That’s her dessert. I watched her as she carefully placed them one by one on her teaspoon and raised them to her mouth…upside down. I don’t think many made it into her mouth, but she was trying.
While we were in there she caught the eye of a young man who made me think of her Daddy. He shot her a big grin like her Daddy does and she just fell in love. Her face was covered with a smile like none other. She is such a little flirt! But she's a little social butterfly with anyone else who talks to her, too. She loved having some more ladies come over to the table and speak to her.
After returning to the house she was beginning to get a bit irritable because it was her naptime soon after we got back from eating. I was trying to keep her awake so Mommy could feed her again and put her down. I was on the phone talking with her Mommy when I made the mistake of mentioning she hadn’t had all of her juice and I was trying to keep it from her. She went around looking for it and couldn’t find it. She was really fussing. Her Mommy could hear her in the background and wanted to know what I had done to make her so mad. She said that was her 'really ticked off attitude'. And she was stringing lots of words together. None that I really understood, but they were out there. She was not happy at all.
To distract her, I kept telling her Mommy was on the way home in just a little while. She and I sat by the window and watched for her Mommy. When she saw that car just before her Mommy pulled in the driveway, you could see that sweet smile lurking underneath her paci that I had finally given her. She was so glad to see her Mommy.
It was a good day, but I’m sure she was glad to see it end. At least that part of it.
We thought we were supposed to be at The Little Princesses’ house today at 11:30. Mommy called and said we were to report for duty at 9:30. She had a beauty appointment before her meeting for a staff meeting at the office.
Mommy called at around 12:00 and told me she was supposed to be there at 1:00, she guessed and had gotten the time wrong. She was going to work for an hour before the meeting and then would be back home around 3:00 or 3:30, depending on what time she could sneak out of the office.
The following is a a list of some of the fun things we did today:
I was straightening up in the kitchen when I heard The Little Princess coming through the office calling, “Ganmomma!” Very plainly. She was looking for me. And found me.
She has found the buttons on our clothes. She points to hers and mine and Granddaddy’s. Anything with buttons she likes to point out. And just smiles so big.
She was back in the bathroom again today trying out the water faucet. And she put her little hand underneath. I worry about it because the hot water is nearest to her and it won’t take long to heat up and burn that sweet baby’s hand.
She and I were trying to get her to sleep…No, I was trying to get her to sleep...She was enjoying reading her books. She would take my pointing finger with her hand over my hand and moved it about on the book. I guess she got bored or tired of pointing to it alone, or maybe she thought I needed to be more pro-active in the book reading session.
Her Mommy says their routine is to read a book, share the book with Teddy Bear and Carly, her new Cabbage Patch newborn baby she got from Uncle Ken and Aunt Katie for her birthday, and whatever else she deems necessary. And, of course, her paci, which is only allowed at nap time or bedtime and sometimes at melt-down time. With me it was drop a book, pick it up, drop Teddy, pick him up, drop Carly, and on and on until one of us is worn out and it isn’t the Little Princess. She’s getting taller now and it’s difficult to see over her little head. Music from the CD must be playing in the background, repeat button pushed at least two times (I punched an extra few times just to be on the safe side.) Oh, and her noise-maker needs to be on.
Some of the routine helped a little and she was more satisfied today than yesterday, but she still fights those naps. One time I checked on her and there she stands with her face to the wall. I knew then she had dropped that silly pacifier overboard again, just like yesterday. I had to get on my hands and knees and fish that thing out from under the bed. All the time, I was telling her, that was it...no more paci if she drops it over again! She doesn't want to sleep because she’s sure we’re having more fun than she is.
Later in the day we took her out for lunch at The Piccadilly Cafeteria. She was an angel. She ate with her little fingers just like you would expect and ate quite a lunch for a change. It’s not every day a girl gets to eat Carrot Souffle’, yummy macaroni and cheese, fried okra and pinto beans. Ok, so she gets the pinto beans occasionally, but the sweet stuff and high carb foods are not a part of her daily diet. So she really chowed down. Sometimes I would feed her some of her food by placing it on her spoon (it had to be sticky enough to hold on) and she would tip that spoon upside down to her little mouth and most times it would go right where it was supposed to go. You may remember this was a trick we learned yesterday. But the hand is faster when you’re hungry. Skip that nonsense of using spoons.
She loves to observe. Anything that is where her little back is turned to, she's sure there's something more interesting going on behind her. I turn her the way I think she will see the most activity and something totally different will catch her eye and she squirms around in that seat, covering the cloth seat her mommy insists we carry, and smears it with mac and cheese, carrot soufflé, etc.
She finished her meal off with her usual round of Cheerios. That’s her dessert. I watched her as she carefully placed them one by one on her teaspoon and raised them to her mouth…upside down. I don’t think many made it into her mouth, but she was trying.
While we were in there she caught the eye of a young man who made me think of her Daddy. He shot her a big grin like her Daddy does and she just fell in love. Her face was covered with a smile like none other. She is such a little flirt! But she's a little social butterfly with anyone else who talks to her, too. She loved having some more ladies come over to the table and speak to her.
After returning to the house she was beginning to get a bit irritable because it was her naptime soon after we got back from eating. I was trying to keep her awake so Mommy could feed her again and put her down. I was on the phone talking with her Mommy when I made the mistake of mentioning she hadn’t had all of her juice and I was trying to keep it from her. She went around looking for it and couldn’t find it. She was really fussing. Her Mommy could hear her in the background and wanted to know what I had done to make her so mad. She said that was her 'really ticked off attitude'. And she was stringing lots of words together. None that I really understood, but they were out there. She was not happy at all.
To distract her, I kept telling her Mommy was on the way home in just a little while. She and I sat by the window and watched for her Mommy. When she saw that car just before her Mommy pulled in the driveway, you could see that sweet smile lurking underneath her paci that I had finally given her. She was so glad to see her Mommy.
It was a good day, but I’m sure she was glad to see it end. At least that part of it.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Today has been nothing more than a catch-up day for us, except for our usual routine of walking with my sister and brother-in-law. It's catch-up on some rest time. Besides tomorrow is another work day for Granddaddy and me. Now, I'm not saying I don't enjoy The Little Princess, because I do, but I'm sure she's been pretty content to have her own catch-up day. I'm sure she didn't enjoy her naptime half as much as I did. I love you Little Princess!
A day with the Little Princess…
Monday, November 26, 2007
The Little Princesses’ Mommy went to work early today. Yes, she is a stay-at-home Mom who works at her leisure, but sometimes it's necessary to find an outlet outside the house, and this was a good excuse. It was an all-day meeting which her company has yearly and is part of the continuing education she is required to have yearly to keep her CPA license up to date. Even though she’s working part-time, she still has to have so many hours in order to maintain her CPA license.This is a good outlet for her and a good chance for her to be able to spend time with her old friends from the office. The only problem was she felt there were so many new people who have come in recently she felt like an outsider. Those usual insecurities that come from a Stay At Home Mom who is struggling to make sure she has made the right decision for both her child and her future. Only she can deal with that and come to the decision that she can live with. I know when to keep my mouth shut...most of the time, and this is one of them.
Anyway, while she was gone (all day, I might add, a.l.l d.a.y.), The Little Princess decided she wanted to play with a little step stool that holds her bathroom toys. It was stored underneath the chifforobe and after she tried to get me to get it out and I didn’t, she laid down on her little tummy and tried to pull it out herself. I finally helped her get it out, and she enjoyed playing with it all day, off and on. In and out went each of the little frogs, ducks, fish, and other little toys. She entertained herself for quite some time each time and she would go back to it again and again.
Another time I told her “I love you”. I say that to her constantly everytime we’re together. I said it to her one time and it sound like she said “I love you”, back to me. Her Granddaddy was standing outside the door and that’s what he said he heard. He said it before I mentioned it. So, see, I'm not just making that up!
Her Granddaddy was standing with her in the living room and was barking at her like a dog, “woof, woof, woof, woof!” and he made head movements while he said it. She kept making a noise like, “woof, woof, woof, woof back at him and shook her little head forward just like he did.
She loves her kitty cats, especially Shadow. She doesn’t spend too much time around Jezebel that I’ve seen, but when Shadow comes by she takes time to reach down and pat her. She did this today, also very gently, so as not to hurt Shadow. I worry more about a cantankerous old black cat or an irritable old Gray one hurting The Little Princess than her hurting the cats. She has been scratched by one or both of them in the past, but she’s learning to be more gentle.
She had her morning nap and only slept for about 40 minutes, but she fought me for about an hour then to sleep for about another 50 minutes for the afternoon nap. I had teased her mother before because one time she told me she ”had only slept 52 minutes to be precise.” Now I understand what she means when she counts precise minutes. All of them are very special, especially to the caregiver.
She seems to be cutting those two bottom teeth even though you can’t see anything. She is putting everything into her little mouth and chews so hard on those bottom gums. She has been so good in the past, when teething. You hardly ever, if ever, see any drool like a lot of babies teething, and she doesn’t complain all that much, but it just seems she may be getting some more teeth in. she only has four precious beautiful teeth on the top and two on the bottom, so she’s ready for some more on the bottom. Sure hope she doesn’t suffer too much with these others.
Today was one of those rare days we’ve seen lately. We have actually had some rain. Not pleasant to drive in, but still nice to have since we’ve been under quite a drought lately. I took The Little Princess out onto the front porch this morning so she could put her little hands out and catch a few raindrops. She really seemed to love the feel of the rain on her little skin.
At lunch time I stuck some peas and carrots together onto her spoon and handed it to her. Everytime she would turn it over before she got it up to her mouth. Since the carrots and peas were on her spoon and kinda glued down, she was able to keep them on the spoon until she finally got the spoon there. Her breakfast and lunch consisted also of Cheerios. This morning Granddaddy called me in to see her throw her Cheerios into her mouth. Open mouth. Throw in. Open mouth, throw in.
Later in the afternoon we took The Little Princess down to her Mommy’s place of meeting for, shall we say, a little snack. When I told her we were going to go see Mommy and why, she had the biggest smile on her little face and she came across the room ready to go. I’m sure she knew exactly what I was trying to tell her.
She has a little round plastic ball that somehow got away from her. She had the most fun trying to find that little ball once it fell. I got plenty of pictures of her trying to get that little ball. Under the high chair, under the serving chest. She had so very much fun.
She also discovered the hot water spigot. Tried to cut it on but I kept stopping her and she couldn’t succeed. That is going to be a job keeping her away from that
bathtub.
She loves to read her books. Her Mommy is reading ‘James and the Giant Peach” to her. She loves to see that book. There aren’t too many pictures,certainly not colored ones in the book, but she knows it has special meaning because it means plenty of time with her Mommy. And maybe no naptime!
After I put her down for the afternoon nap, she threw her paci over the back of the bed. I had to go and dig it out from under the bed. She loves to throw her bunny and dolly on floor, also. What is it about children that makes it so much fun to throw their stuff overboard at naptime and then cry for it?
It was a very short nap this afternoon. I’m missing something in the translation of what she’s wanting me to do. Guess I’ll have to check with Mommy about it.
She climbed up into cabinet where cereal is kept in the kitchen to let me know she was hungry. She’s a girl of few words, but she knows what she wants.
She was glad to see her Daddy when he came home. I'm sure she was glad to see Mommy, too. I didn't see her expression. We made a fast escape out of town!
The Little Princesses’ Mommy went to work early today. Yes, she is a stay-at-home Mom who works at her leisure, but sometimes it's necessary to find an outlet outside the house, and this was a good excuse. It was an all-day meeting which her company has yearly and is part of the continuing education she is required to have yearly to keep her CPA license up to date. Even though she’s working part-time, she still has to have so many hours in order to maintain her CPA license.This is a good outlet for her and a good chance for her to be able to spend time with her old friends from the office. The only problem was she felt there were so many new people who have come in recently she felt like an outsider. Those usual insecurities that come from a Stay At Home Mom who is struggling to make sure she has made the right decision for both her child and her future. Only she can deal with that and come to the decision that she can live with. I know when to keep my mouth shut...most of the time, and this is one of them.
Anyway, while she was gone (all day, I might add, a.l.l d.a.y.), The Little Princess decided she wanted to play with a little step stool that holds her bathroom toys. It was stored underneath the chifforobe and after she tried to get me to get it out and I didn’t, she laid down on her little tummy and tried to pull it out herself. I finally helped her get it out, and she enjoyed playing with it all day, off and on. In and out went each of the little frogs, ducks, fish, and other little toys. She entertained herself for quite some time each time and she would go back to it again and again.
Another time I told her “I love you”. I say that to her constantly everytime we’re together. I said it to her one time and it sound like she said “I love you”, back to me. Her Granddaddy was standing outside the door and that’s what he said he heard. He said it before I mentioned it. So, see, I'm not just making that up!
Her Granddaddy was standing with her in the living room and was barking at her like a dog, “woof, woof, woof, woof!” and he made head movements while he said it. She kept making a noise like, “woof, woof, woof, woof back at him and shook her little head forward just like he did.
She loves her kitty cats, especially Shadow. She doesn’t spend too much time around Jezebel that I’ve seen, but when Shadow comes by she takes time to reach down and pat her. She did this today, also very gently, so as not to hurt Shadow. I worry more about a cantankerous old black cat or an irritable old Gray one hurting The Little Princess than her hurting the cats. She has been scratched by one or both of them in the past, but she’s learning to be more gentle.
She had her morning nap and only slept for about 40 minutes, but she fought me for about an hour then to sleep for about another 50 minutes for the afternoon nap. I had teased her mother before because one time she told me she ”had only slept 52 minutes to be precise.” Now I understand what she means when she counts precise minutes. All of them are very special, especially to the caregiver.
She seems to be cutting those two bottom teeth even though you can’t see anything. She is putting everything into her little mouth and chews so hard on those bottom gums. She has been so good in the past, when teething. You hardly ever, if ever, see any drool like a lot of babies teething, and she doesn’t complain all that much, but it just seems she may be getting some more teeth in. she only has four precious beautiful teeth on the top and two on the bottom, so she’s ready for some more on the bottom. Sure hope she doesn’t suffer too much with these others.
Today was one of those rare days we’ve seen lately. We have actually had some rain. Not pleasant to drive in, but still nice to have since we’ve been under quite a drought lately. I took The Little Princess out onto the front porch this morning so she could put her little hands out and catch a few raindrops. She really seemed to love the feel of the rain on her little skin.
At lunch time I stuck some peas and carrots together onto her spoon and handed it to her. Everytime she would turn it over before she got it up to her mouth. Since the carrots and peas were on her spoon and kinda glued down, she was able to keep them on the spoon until she finally got the spoon there. Her breakfast and lunch consisted also of Cheerios. This morning Granddaddy called me in to see her throw her Cheerios into her mouth. Open mouth. Throw in. Open mouth, throw in.
Later in the afternoon we took The Little Princess down to her Mommy’s place of meeting for, shall we say, a little snack. When I told her we were going to go see Mommy and why, she had the biggest smile on her little face and she came across the room ready to go. I’m sure she knew exactly what I was trying to tell her.
She has a little round plastic ball that somehow got away from her. She had the most fun trying to find that little ball once it fell. I got plenty of pictures of her trying to get that little ball. Under the high chair, under the serving chest. She had so very much fun.
She also discovered the hot water spigot. Tried to cut it on but I kept stopping her and she couldn’t succeed. That is going to be a job keeping her away from that
bathtub.
She loves to read her books. Her Mommy is reading ‘James and the Giant Peach” to her. She loves to see that book. There aren’t too many pictures,certainly not colored ones in the book, but she knows it has special meaning because it means plenty of time with her Mommy. And maybe no naptime!
After I put her down for the afternoon nap, she threw her paci over the back of the bed. I had to go and dig it out from under the bed. She loves to throw her bunny and dolly on floor, also. What is it about children that makes it so much fun to throw their stuff overboard at naptime and then cry for it?
It was a very short nap this afternoon. I’m missing something in the translation of what she’s wanting me to do. Guess I’ll have to check with Mommy about it.
She climbed up into cabinet where cereal is kept in the kitchen to let me know she was hungry. She’s a girl of few words, but she knows what she wants.
She was glad to see her Daddy when he came home. I'm sure she was glad to see Mommy, too. I didn't see her expression. We made a fast escape out of town!
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