12.31.09: Oops...

Dear Friends and Family,

It's Thursday and I just realized yesterday afternoon that I hadn't been blogging all week. I had been blissfully enjoying the time off with P.

Friday, we flew home for the holidays to see family. We split the time between Mr. mouse's folks and mine. P was a trooper, beginning to sleep regularly in her car seat after seven months of training. She began to have separation anxiety which I guess is normal. And, she's gotten really good at crawling and pulling up.

We flew home on Tuesday and have been spending the past two days catching up on errands, cleaning up the house and playing with P. I'll set aside time tomorrow for ye olde restrospective.

Time for breakfast and some play time. Then, while P naps, we'll begin the baby proofing process.


Cheers!
mouse

Imbecilic Waste of a Morning

Dear Friends and Family,

I FINALLY HAVE P'S CHRISTMAS PRESENT AT HOME - NO THANKS TO THE MORONS AT UPS WHO CLAIM TO KNOW A THING OR TWO ABOUT PARCEL SERVICE.

What kills me is not that they lost the package, not once, nor that they lost it twice, but that they have been completely nonchalant about accepting any accountability whatsoever for their complete lack of service. An "I'm sorry, we'll make sure it doesn't happen again" would have gone a long way towards making it better for me.

Instead, I camped out watching for the truck today, loaded for bear. Incompetent imbeciles.


Cheers!
mouse

PS: Merry Christmas, everyone.

Slow Morning

Dear Friends and Family,

It's tough to get motivated, but the sooner I get in to work, the sooner I'll be done for the year and the sooner I'll get to come home.

Okay. Guess I'll go wake P for breakfast.


Cheers!
mouse

P's Christmas Tree

Dear Friends and Family,

Our ornament collection has always followed three simple rules. Each year we buy the Swarovski Christmas ornament. Each year we also buy a handmade glass ornament. And, then, we have four boxes of MOMA ornaments we use as filler ornaments. There are two bell shaped ornaments that don't fit the round criteria, but nevertheless make the cut each year because they are so beautiful.

Last night, daycare sent home a classic kid ornament - red construction paper cut in the shape of a mitten with a picture of P in the middle. And, just like that, our tree became a little more personal. And, I'm okay with it.


Cheers!
mouse

PS: P's continuing her hit-me (as in blackjack) motion. Perhaps she'll be a drummer.

PPS: Last night, she really picked up her crawling pace. I have a sneaking suspicion the extended family is going to give her lots of practice while we're home for the holidays.

12.21.09: Amazon, My New Best Friend

Dear Friends and Family,

One of my friends decided to rescue me and go to the Barry Manilow concert with Mr. mouse. I love friends willing to rescue me from Barry Manilow. The world should be filled with friends willing to rescue me from Barry Manilow. There cannot be enough... okay... okay... Mr. mouse got to see Barry Manilow. I got to spend the evening at home with P. Life is good.

Saturday, we met up with a friend I used to work with and her little toddler. It was good to catch up and compare notes on reflux babies. She's got the impossible eater who's a normal weight. We've got the chug-a-lugger who's also normal, but tiny.

Sunday, we gave P a bath. And, although she wasn't happy, she wasn't miserable either. I don't know what changed, but I'll take it. P's also begun consonants to Mr. mouse's joy. And, she continues to practice pulling up and crawling. On another milestone, she's pretty much outgrown green pillow. She's big enough to go without it if we're in the car, and, at home, we just lie down together now. It'll be sad retiring green pillow for good.

Sunday afternoon, we went to the aquarium. The new membership got all of us in for free, and P got her first entrance bracelet to commemorate the occasion. For old times sake, we ate popcorn with her by the Caribbean Reef where we sat down timing contractions the day before she was born.

Sunday night, Tex Mex followed by tree trimming. Finally. It's one of the things on our to do list that got pushed back. Once we get the gates up, we'll have most of the big things done before we begin the big push to get ready for our party.


Cheers!
mouse

PS: Amazon. Saturday, we went to pick up packages and our Amazon package was missing. P's first Christmas present was missing. Not cool. And, UPS was so not helpful. Loaded for bear, I began the 1-800-someone'd-better-help-me-now-or-so-help-me-god calls. And, Amazon was amazing helpful. Yes, they began the claims process and the search process. But, why ruin a customer's Christmas in the interim? They mailed a second batch of books second day so that we'll get it in time for Christmas. Now, that's smart customer service.

Santa Mouse

Dear Friends and Family,

P is home sick. She got sent home from school on Tuesday with an "unformed, uncontained" diaper. We think it's a stomach virus. Mr. mouse stayed home with her on Wednesday. I stayed home with her yesterday. Today, we're keeping her home just in case.

But, life goes on. And, I will stop by daycare today to sign the bill for the holiday party that Mr. mouse and I are sponsoring for P's teachers. And, to drop off the gift cards. And, I have a little something for the ladies at the lactation center where I pump.

And, so begins the holiday cheer.


Cheers!
mouse

PS: change of plans, P's off to school.

Capturing Time

Dear Friends and Family,

It happened yesterday at work. The dreaded calculation talk... Well, next week is a short week, and then everyone's off the week after. So, we might as well wait until January before we kick off this project...

Wait a moment! Where did December go? I don't know.

I've come to the sad realization that I've lost total control of time. And, that makes me wonder - do you put life on hold and try to capture the precious memories of babyhood? or do you let life happen and wake up one day to find a teenager asking for the car keys?

I'm not sure you have a choice. And, I'm not sure the answer is black and white. If you put life on hold, then the dishes don't get cleaned, and the fridge doesn't get stocked, and the clothes don't get washed, and that hardly seems like a good choice. But, if you do all of the things that need to get done, then the time slips by and you know you'll regret not taking more time to just lie on the floor and laugh with her because one day she won't have any interest in doing that with you.

There's a precious window of time right now when her eyes light up only for you (and her Dad, of course) and her smiles are sheer expressions of her utter joy to see you and she is thoroughly content to play with you all day.

I guess the right answer is one of balance - get enough done to keep the wheels on the wagon, but make a conscious effort to take the time to enjoy the bliss of the first year.


Cheers!
mouse

Baby Lullabies

Dear Small,

We've got a long drive to school, and sometimes, when you cry, I sing to you to soothe you. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. But, I always give it a try.

Your Favorites

• Ba Ba Black Sheep
• Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
• The Alphabet Song
• Itsy Bitsy Spider
• Are You Sleeping?

Other Songs I Sing

• This Old Man
• Do Re Mi
• Wheels on the Bus

Originals

• Who Loves P?

At Home

• The Diaper Song
• Eating Makes You Nice and Big
• Ladybug's Melody

The time goes quickly, and it's tough to capture all of the details that make up our day to day routine.


Love,
your mommy

12.14.09: Christmas Prep

Dear Friends and Family,

We spent part of the weekend with old friends from the Motor City doing our teeth cleaning thing. P did SO much better on this car trip than she did on the one six months ago. We left Thursday night, ~9 PM and she slept the whole way over. Then, on the way back, we left ~4:30 PM and she slept most of the way back (we stopped at dinner time for all three of us). Yeah for P!

Friday, we went to the dentist. Then, we ate lunch at one of our favorite delis - loading up on bread and butter to bring home. We tried a $200/lb ham ($8 for our serving size) and a $125/lb ham ($5 for our serving size) and had fun comparing the taste, texture, etc. of the two. The flavor is intense and goes a long way. Me? I preferred the cheaper of the two - it was more for fun than anything else.

After lunch, we picked up our annual Christmas ornament. We debated, briefly, picking up a separate ornament for P. Then, we decided not to. Since, eventually, one day, all of our ornaments will be hers. A quick sprint to load up on gear for dinner, and we were over at our friends' house noshing on french fries, potato skins, pumpernickel bread with dip, pizza and chinese spare ribs. Dessert? chocolate cake. Yumminess. Yes, it's an odd combination. But, we all had fun which is the important part.

Saturday, we lingered longer than planned, catching up with a friend over dim sum, so we didn't get Christmas cards/tree done like we originally planned. The cards may not go out until January - we're falling behind on our to do list and I'm beginning to re-prioritize to maintain my sanity.

Sunday, we did the bulk of our Christmas shopping. This year, Mr. mouse and I decided not to get each other anything. Instead, we'll be making a couple of charitable donations. Time to research worthy causes.


Cheers!
mouse

P Updates

Dear Friends and Family,

Yesterday, when I went to pick P up at daycare, while I was packing up her bag, she pulled herself upright. Wow. The world is a new place for P (and me).

So, last night, I was faced with the dilemma of where to sleep P until we dropped the mattress on her crib. I tried the pack and play until she was puffy in the face from crying. She finally collapsed and fell asleep. I was so proud of my achievement that I had Mr. mouse go in to see her which woke her. She's the deepest sleeper and the lightest sleeper depending upon where she is in her sleep cycle. Once he calmed her down, he took her to our bed (aka nuestra cama).

Last night, in her crying fit, she also definitively showed a pick me up move - where she opens her arms, turns towards you and pleads.

Seven months old tomorrow. It goes so quickly. There were times during the first six months when I thought about how cool it would be to have a second child - to relive the experiences we'd had so far with P. But, I've come to realize, it wouldn't be the same. It'd be a whole new person with a whole new set of experiences. And, it wouldn't be the same because it'd be Mr. mouse, P, baby and me, not just the three of us the way it is now. Just more thoughts going through my head when I'm stuck in traffic.


Cheers!
mouse

12.08.09: Happy Belated Weekend

Dear Friends and Family,

Snow tires on.

Saturday. Saturday. Saturday. I don't think we did anything of note. It was a lazy day at home playing with P. I think. Has my memory of the weekend faded already?

Sunday, we went out and picked up a tree. It's up in its stand in the living room, lights half on. We'll work on it throughout the week and hopefully get it done by the weekend. I'm a lot more excited about presents this year - presents for P.

Oh, Saturday, I did a couple of hours of work and then worked on the Christmas card. How quickly we forget. And, Saturday night, we went to a co-workers' Christmas party where we scored a jar of honey in the gift exchange.


Cheers!
mouse

First Snowfall

Dear Friends and Family,

First winter snow and it's coming down Monday for rush hour traffic. Going to try and get a jump on the commute.

Weekend update tomorrow.


Cheers!
mouse

PS: furnace part fit, yeah!

Day Three Intermittent Heat

Dear Friends and Family,

Tuesday

I woke up and it was cold. Not freezing, but cold. We realized the furnace was out. Mr. mouse fiddled with it in the morning. He replaced the thermostat in the evening. We slept with a space heater we had from last winter.

Wednesday

I woke up and it was colder. Not freezing, but definitely colder. Furnace still out. Mr. mouse called a repair person who came and looked at it and quoted something or other, ended up not replacing anything but jiggling something or other, charged $100 and left. Heat :)

Thursday

I woke up and it was cold again. Not freezing, but cold. We realized the furnace was out again. Mr. mouse fiddled with the part with the bad contact. It snapped. He ordered a new one that's coming today. We slept with a space heater we had from last winter.

Friday

I woke up and it was freezing. Not cold, but freezing. I don't need Mr. mouse's $0.02 to realize the furnace is still out. Fingers crossed the part fits today.


Cheers!
mouse

P Up, Heat Down

see you tomorrow -

Baby Time

Dear Friends and Family,

A light bulb went off this weekend and I'm ready to write about something that's been on the back burner for a couple of weeks now.

My mom.

She's mentioned she wanted to come out several times now. For example, while my grandmother was sick, she wanted to come out for a day trip to spend some time with P. I told her she's always welcome and that a day trip would do her a ton of good especially since my aunt was in town to visit with and take care of my grandmother.

Well, after grandma passed away, the concept of the day trip morphed, in my mom's mind, into a SIX month visit to spend some time with P.

Both Mr. mouse and me kind of flinched at the thought of a six month visit. First, there's the fact that we travel, a lot. How would that work? We'd leave her here alone for weekends on end? Then, there's the fact that we have friends over, a lot. How would that work? There's only so much space in the mouse pad, especially now that we've lost a room to P. Then, there's daycare. How would that work? It's not long enough to pull her from daycare and too long to pay it and not use it. Then, there's eating. How would that work? My mom wants to help, but she's not the healthiest cook. And, the list goes on, and gets more petty. And, made me feel like a horrible person.

But, then, I realized those were all mechanistic things we could work through if we really wanted to. At the heart of it was a bigger issue. Rewind to six months ago.

In hindsight, I think, if I were to do it all over again, I would take two weeks with Mr. mouse right when P was born, then three weeks with my mom and then two more weeks with Mr. mouse instead of having my mom come out on day 3 and stay for three weeks. We just needed more time as a family unit when she was born - just the three of us - to soak it all in. I think I've been fighting that since and that's part of what has made me so greedy about P time and so sensitive about the mom visiting thing.

Then, the other thing is, while my mom was here she was very greedy with P time. I kind of swallowed my words and let her have more time than I wanted to give knowing that she had three weeks and I had months ahead of me. It was tough to do, especially with the postpartum hormones raging, but I did.

And, whenever we visited home, she's been very greedy with P time, which I've just chalked up to her taking advantage of the time she has - really, to be fair, everyone is very greedy with limited P time and I get it and I'm okay with it, it's just no one else is asking to move in so it's not really an issue with anyone else.

Which brings me to my aha. I don't want to be fighting for P time and P attention and P "preferential status" (aka who's #1 in P's book?) with my mom for six months. I also don't want to have her spoil P and then have to be the disciplinarian and spend the time and effort to undo that. It all reeks of bad Korean soap operas.

Now, before you think I'm a selfish little snot, I'm 110% for P having a close relationship with her grandparents - all of them. I just don't think she's at an age when she's forming relationships and memories. And, I brought that up to my mom. And, my normally selfless mom said, "I know, this is about me." Wow. I didn't say anything.

Since my mom is normally selfless, it's unfortunate that all three of her children are normally selfish. I think it's because she asked us to be selfless in ways children really shouldn't be expected to be. I won't go into all of that here. But, what it all boils down to is this... If she's okay being selfish, then I'm more than okay being just as selfish. And, I will be, because P's time and attention and preferential status are all limited commodities. And, while I don't mind being a sandwich generation financially, I sure as heck mind being asked to be a sandwich generation familially.

Where does this leave everything? I don't know. Probably nothing is going to happen between now and the end of the year. Now that I have more perspective, I'll stew on it all again until the next light bulb goes off.


Cheers!
mouse

Credit Card Financing Charges Hamster Wheel

Dear Friends and Family,

We're not ones to carry a balance on our credit card, so imagine my surprise to find out we've been getting charged finance charges on our primary card. WTF?!?!

It turns out we were late one payment this summer, right when P was born and our internet went down and online banking was the last thing on my mind. Well, since then our "average daily balance" has never reset to zero even if we've paid off our balance each month since. So, the bank keeps sending us the bill for finance charges.

Finally fed up, last month, we paid double our balance so we'd had a negative balance for the month and finally zero out. As Murphy's Law would have it, we still have an average daily balance - almost zero, but not quite. So, we'll be sending in another monster payment this month. On the positive front, our holiday spending will all be covered in this overpayment debacle.

And, how on earth is a normal person supposed to figure this out? And, afford to do this? I'm beginning to hate/distrust large companies more and more. They seem to have lost sight of the altruism that is the social grease that enables the world to function. There's fair profit and there's "unfair" profit. And, we seem to have lost perspective on what that means.

P's up. Off my soap box.


Cheers!
mouse