Monthly Archives: March 2007

ARGH

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So, I mean, yeah, I have the Most Stationary Baby Ever, but we’re trying to figure out what to do re: babyproofing. Because while she’s not motoring about, yet, it’s really only a matter of time, and at this point our living area is basically an invitation for toddler mayhem. What ends up happening, is that I look around, and in my HEAD I envision the perfect solution — a long credenza or low wall unit type thing where the TV lives, to start.

When I met Dave, I had a little 13 inch tv from when I first went to college (still have it, too, upstairs) and that was Just Fine. But Dave being Dave, the first thing he did was to run everything so that the sound goes through the stereo, which, okay, that’s cool. Then someone gave us an older 19 inch tv, so we swapped that in, and then we moved here and didn’t have Magical Free Cable like at every other place we’d lived, so we got our bunny ears. At this point, to watch the news, four separate machines have to be turned on — the tv, vcr, stereo, and bunny ears. (They’re electric.) And that requires two remotes, because we can’t get the stereo towork with any remote other than it’s own.  The speakers are each standing on two separate shelves — those cheap Target shelves — and we have DVDs stored there, but they are super tippy, and so that will have to change. The TV/VCR/ETC is on the old dresser I bought at a junk shop, god, YEARS ago, I lived on Court st…, and that’s not a bad place for it. It’s deep, so the vcr and dvd player are pretty safe from a kid shoving a fistful of goldfish crackers into it, it’s heavy and wide and low, so tipping is absolutely NOT a concern. It’s old, so the drawers take some wrestling with to open, so, again, not a concern for a wee one. BUT, it’s just a hair too small, width wise, to hold all that stuff. (edited to link to a pic: Tv stuff)

When I go to look for something to flank it, or something to replace it, I get lots of armoire type stuff, which I don’t really want in our living room, as I prefer long and low. Or, of course, I go to like DWR or Ikea and see the perfect thing and then spend a lot of energy giving both sites the finger, DWR because I don’t have that kind of money, and Ikea for being so goddamn far away and having such a weak internet commerce segment that it’s basically nonexistent.  I haven’t looked at Actual Furniture Stores yet, maybe I should, but I’m expecting to see massive wall units that are wide and tall and totally designed to hold one’snew widescreen, freestanding, HDTV. I just need, like, a run of kitchen dabinets that are 3/4 height or something. So annoying.

I did pick up some of those snap together chrome wire cube shelves for Ingrid’s room, and some bins to slide in, so that’s something…. and we eventually need to tackle our closet and guest room. It sucks, because the general rules of thumb regarding getting rid of clothes kind of don’t apply to me, because I haven’t worn a lot of stiff in the last year, but that’s because I’ve been pregnant and now, nursing. Maybe I should just get rid of everything and start fresh, anyway.

The storm on Friday quickly turned to mild and melty on Saturday and today, and clearly, spring is in the air, if I’m obsessing about organization and housekeeping.

Any babyproofing tips for us? Beyond "fence in your goddamn Darwin stairs already?" Sigh.

9 Months, very late.

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Dear Ingrid,

I am so very late in writing to you about your 9 month birthday, because February 2007 will be remembered as The February of the Plague, with our whole little family wrestling with one illness or another all month. In fact, your nine month birthday highlight was the first time daycare called to have me pick you up, as you had a fever of 102.5, and weren’t acting much like yourself. I picked you up, and that evening was spent with Daddy taking care of both of us, as I got desperately sick, too. The next day, daddy stayed home in the morning to make sure we were all okay, and you and I cuddled on the couch for much of the day.

Your ninth month has also found you with two new teeth, on the top, flanking the front teeth that emerged last month.  You’ve also started to use your teeth a bit, enjoying the satisfying crunch of biting one of you beloved fruit puffs in half. You also liked eating an avocado wedge, and now my quest to find another decent avocado (in Maine, in February) is on. Unfortunately, the last few trips to the store only found withered, gray looking things. Yuck.

You continue to thrive at your childcare. The caregivers are so wonderful to you, reading you stories and taking you in buggy rides. They genuinely adore you, and our first Valentine from School was made with their assistance — your little handprint smudged across a heart shaped doily. I can only imagine the challenge of making that happen!

You’ve started to ‘talk,’ repeating sounds, mamamamama, dadadadada, nununununu. In the bath, you read us your bath book, turning the pages one by one, babbling in a very serious way, and pointing at the illustrated creatures.  You have learned how to Put Things In, and will dump your blocks from their canister and drop them back in. You also have started to Do Things Back, like if I put a block in my mouth, and you take it out, you will feed it back to me. Or, if we’re playing Where’s Ingrid? with a receiving blanket, you will try to re-cover your own head.

You continue to amaze us every day, with your giant personality. There is so much that we can see of your newborn days, and so much that has changed.  You now weigh 18 pounds, and are 27.25 inches long, putting you squarely at the 50th percentile, but your head is at the 90th. (That comes from my side of the family. We all have big heads.) You make every day better, in some way.

Love, Mama