Today is a milestone birthday for my mom. Here's how she sums up turning sixty:
"At 20, you don't feel old; you feel like 40 is old.
At 40, you don't feel old; you feel like 50 is old.
At 50, you realize you still don't feel old; you must not be old till you hit sixty.
At 60, you think, 'wow, I'm old.'
But (my mom continued), I did hike 15 miles on Thursday, so I am not completely over the Hill!"
Happy Birthday Mom!
Saturday, September 30, 2006
Friday, September 29, 2006
Alive
Somedays you just want to gloat that your 20 month old knows her colors, can name 12 shapes (including trapezoid, pentagon and octagon!), and can count to five all by herself (without skipping from four straight to six anymore!). But somedays you are just happy your child is alive...
Tonight at dinner Mac sits down. He has an immediate dinner topic: "So... does the Heimlich manuever expel food from your airway or just from your esophagus?" I answer; Mac proceeds. "And for a twenty month old should you use the baby Heimlich or the adult Heimlich?"
I am instantly freaking. "Oh my god, why?"
Mac tells me how today Megan was eating a bagel and starts making grunting sounds. When he looked over at her, her eyes were bulging out and she wouldn't answer questions. On the third try, she let out a little gasp. Mac picked her up and held her over his arm with pressure on her stomach, although no actual manuever was performed. That apparently was enough. Out popped a airway-conforming cylinder of bread. Mac was pretty scared, and Megan, well, she just wanted more bagel. She got what she wanted but only after Mac tore the thing up into tiny little bites.
Tonight at dinner Mac sits down. He has an immediate dinner topic: "So... does the Heimlich manuever expel food from your airway or just from your esophagus?" I answer; Mac proceeds. "And for a twenty month old should you use the baby Heimlich or the adult Heimlich?"
I am instantly freaking. "Oh my god, why?"
Mac tells me how today Megan was eating a bagel and starts making grunting sounds. When he looked over at her, her eyes were bulging out and she wouldn't answer questions. On the third try, she let out a little gasp. Mac picked her up and held her over his arm with pressure on her stomach, although no actual manuever was performed. That apparently was enough. Out popped a airway-conforming cylinder of bread. Mac was pretty scared, and Megan, well, she just wanted more bagel. She got what she wanted but only after Mac tore the thing up into tiny little bites.
Friday, September 15, 2006
Those Pesky Pronouns
Given that adults have such difficulty with pronoun usage (also see below), it is no wonder that this has been a stumbling block for Megan, too.
About two months ago, I decided it was time to give up on the whole baby-talk-refer-to-yourself-in-the-third-person thing and just start talking to Megan like an adult. I am sure those who had to listen to me are thankful; how annoying is it to hear somebody sing-songing,"Mommy loves you. Mommy is going to do it. Give it to mommy."??
Megan has certainly noticed that I have started calling myself "me" and she has taken the cue: she now calls me "Me" also. And to refer to herself? Well, I always says "you" when talking about her and so Megan has followed suit. Should she want someone to lift her up, she'll say "hold you" or "carry you." And if her clumsy hands can't spoon the food into her own mouth fast enough, she'll request "feed you" as she hands over her utensil.
About two months ago, I decided it was time to give up on the whole baby-talk-refer-to-yourself-in-the-third-person thing and just start talking to Megan like an adult. I am sure those who had to listen to me are thankful; how annoying is it to hear somebody sing-songing,"Mommy loves you. Mommy is going to do it. Give it to mommy."??
Megan has certainly noticed that I have started calling myself "me" and she has taken the cue: she now calls me "Me" also. And to refer to herself? Well, I always says "you" when talking about her and so Megan has followed suit. Should she want someone to lift her up, she'll say "hold you" or "carry you." And if her clumsy hands can't spoon the food into her own mouth fast enough, she'll request "feed you" as she hands over her utensil.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
Beans!
When your child is learning to eat with a fork and spoon, don't feed
themher beans, or deal with the mess...Today, I did both!
***Post comment edit***
Today, me did both just doesn't sound right :)
***Post comment edit***
Today, me did both just doesn't sound right :)
Sunday, September 10, 2006
An eggo for Meg-go
Just when one has enough co-ordination to run and jump and bend and grab things at will, that pesky coffee table has to ruin all the fun.
(sorry for the blurry pic, but I think you can kind of see the big purple goose-egg sitting over Megan's eye).
Megan has plenty of time each day where we aren't watching her every move. Ironically this happened with both Mac and I staring right at her. She ran to pick up a toy and seriously misjudged the amount of clearance that big noggin needed. Ouch!
(sorry for the blurry pic, but I think you can kind of see the big purple goose-egg sitting over Megan's eye).
Megan has plenty of time each day where we aren't watching her every move. Ironically this happened with both Mac and I staring right at her. She ran to pick up a toy and seriously misjudged the amount of clearance that big noggin needed. Ouch!
Thursday, September 7, 2006
Kids say the darndest things
Today Megan and I were reading one of her favorite books: the animal picture book. I think Megan can name all of the animals except the porcupine. In one picture a hen is sitting on two eggs - the rounded ends poke out just below the chicken breast. Megan is quite familiar with (and can say) eggs - she often has one for breakfast. So instead of the usual "What's that? What does it say?" line of questioning, I pointed to the eggs and asked, "what are those?" Megan's response: "Knees!"
****
Megan likes to rumage through the bathroom products and often carries a few of the (tightly sealed, childproof, and non-poisonous) items around the house. Today she ran up to me with a bottle of nailpolish in her outstretched arm.
"On" she insisted.
Curious about her understanding, I asked "What do you want me to put it on?"
"Nipples!" she responded without hesistation. Whoa! - she must have learned that from her Dad!
****
Megan likes to rumage through the bathroom products and often carries a few of the (tightly sealed, childproof, and non-poisonous) items around the house. Today she ran up to me with a bottle of nailpolish in her outstretched arm.
"On" she insisted.
Curious about her understanding, I asked "What do you want me to put it on?"
"Nipples!" she responded without hesistation. Whoa! - she must have learned that from her Dad!
Wednesday, September 6, 2006
Camping Trip
For Labor Day weekend we headed out to the gorge - Paradise Creek to be precise -for a weekend of camping with the Gingeriches. I took Friday off, making the long weekend even longer.
This time of the year, Paradise creek is a shallow trickle of crystal clear, frigid water, in other words, the perfect entertainment for kids of all ages. Megan woke up every morning (WAY too early) with pleas to be taken immediately to the "ocean." Megan had a blast throwing rocks into the water and seeing the "plash" they made. She also spent plenty of time with a shovel and bucket on the gravelled shore. Harrison was the only one who really braved the chilly water, though most people did some wading (not me, of course!).
Megan also thought it was great fun to touch the trees.
The adults also did some rock tossing and, at Megan's insistance, some shoveling, too. But mostly we were content to sit around eating, talking, watching the kids and singing campfire songs.
We did manage to get out for a hike: a trek to the nearby Lower Creek Falls. Despite the unassuming name, the falls were thoroughly impressive. Most of us agreed that they were better than Multnomah Falls, maybe because the prerequisite hike led to a sense of accomplishment, maybe because there were so few people there, or maybe because there wasn't five ice cream stands, a hotel, and a huge parking lot at its base. On the way home from the trip, we passed a line of cars stopped along the freeway off-ramp just waiting for a parking spot to visit the over-crowded Multnomah Falls. We just shook our heads and mumbled something like "that is so stupid" as we sped on by.
We had a great trip but by Monday we were ready to come home. We were filthy, particularly Megan, who seemed to spend all of her non-river time just rolling in the campground dirt. And we were tired - very tired. Megan went to bed easily every night, but she was up and ready to go at the earliest light -certainly not our preferred time to wake up after late nights around the campfire!
This time of the year, Paradise creek is a shallow trickle of crystal clear, frigid water, in other words, the perfect entertainment for kids of all ages. Megan woke up every morning (WAY too early) with pleas to be taken immediately to the "ocean." Megan had a blast throwing rocks into the water and seeing the "plash" they made. She also spent plenty of time with a shovel and bucket on the gravelled shore. Harrison was the only one who really braved the chilly water, though most people did some wading (not me, of course!).
Megan also thought it was great fun to touch the trees.
The adults also did some rock tossing and, at Megan's insistance, some shoveling, too. But mostly we were content to sit around eating, talking, watching the kids and singing campfire songs.
We did manage to get out for a hike: a trek to the nearby Lower Creek Falls. Despite the unassuming name, the falls were thoroughly impressive. Most of us agreed that they were better than Multnomah Falls, maybe because the prerequisite hike led to a sense of accomplishment, maybe because there were so few people there, or maybe because there wasn't five ice cream stands, a hotel, and a huge parking lot at its base. On the way home from the trip, we passed a line of cars stopped along the freeway off-ramp just waiting for a parking spot to visit the over-crowded Multnomah Falls. We just shook our heads and mumbled something like "that is so stupid" as we sped on by.
We had a great trip but by Monday we were ready to come home. We were filthy, particularly Megan, who seemed to spend all of her non-river time just rolling in the campground dirt. And we were tired - very tired. Megan went to bed easily every night, but she was up and ready to go at the earliest light -certainly not our preferred time to wake up after late nights around the campfire!
Tuesday, September 5, 2006
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