Do you recognize this child? 7-28-13

a photo from SF

Feeding Time. 7-20-13

I took great pains to explain to Boop that Winnie's food was for Winnie and not for Boop. 

Boop surprised me with her next move, but she still wanted to lick her hand after feeding Winnie.

BLEES-TARD! 7-12-13

My cousin, P, looked a bit tussled. She explained to us on the hotel patio that a German woman walked up to her and just pronounced her, "BLEES-TARD!" Bless her heart. P and B are sisters, and they and my dad would all compete to see who would be the darkest at the end of each summer. This was back in the day before tanning beds and skin cancer (or at least we didn't pay so much mind to the link between sun and skin cancer). 

Maybe it's the Cherokee, but Dad and B would be as brown as a biscuit each summer. P would not be near as brown. And so it was that day as we were eating our fresh peach cobbler on our 4th of July vacation at Panama City Beach. P had gotten a bit red, but she certainly didn't have any blisters. Maybe the German woman meant that P had gotten burned? 

I was also one of those people who would just turn brown as a child. You'd never know it now. After my short-lived goth phase as a teenager and my ensuing years doing cancer research, my skin is quite pale. Boop, as fair as she is (I still can't believe my offspring would have blonde hair and blue eyes!), seems to do okay in the sun. Of course, they use sunscreen on them in daycare, but as much as she's out, she's got a little tan going. 


My issue now is more of poison ivy. Mercy, I've been dealing with it for several weeks now. I just went back to Urgent Care to get my 2nd round of steroids. Misery. Hopefully, this course will take care of it. But I'm a sad sight. Fortunately, I haven't ran into that same German lady who would call me out. I would really deserve the pronouncement, "BLEES-TARD!" You can see mounds of blisters on my skin. And I'm feeling it.

Taking Stock at Boop's Month 17. 6-20-13

Here's what's happening at 17 months:

• Boop sings a lot. She has a few little songs that I recognize, one's that she's made up. One of her favorites that I like is the Mommy song. It's lyrics, as you might guess, are "Mommy, mommy, mommy..." It's a real song. She's not trying to get my attention. There is a refrain that she gets to after a few repetitions where she goes up an octave that's a little out of her reach, and her voice cracks. Pretty darn cute. I need to get it on video.
• Winnie is loving Grandma time since Mom has been visiting more often with her knee replacement. Winnie looked like she was getting a UTI again after Mom's last visit, but she seems to be getting better. I need to get her to the vet to get her shots. I need to get Boop in for her shots, too.
• Winnie and Boop still don't get along. Well, they get along at meal time when Boop is sneaking her food, but I can't say there's much else. Winnie has asked Boop to throw her toy but is a little disappointed when Boop can't. But Boop is catching on; she knows to give Winnie's toy to me to throw for her.
• Boop is a big girl. Her last weight was nearly 30 lbs. Yes, at 17 months old, she's nearly 30 lbs. I don't feed her junk; she loves veggies; she's always busy; she moves around a lot. So, I'm not sure I understand it, other than the fact that she is still on antibiotics and is still nursing a bit. She's tall, too. She was laying beside me the other night, and I was trying to get her and Winnie sorted in the bed. I was having trouble, and I realized she had grown a fair bit. I'll be interested to see how big she is at her 18 month well-child check.
• Boop is managing a spoon pretty well. She likes a big spoon to help her get the food to her mouth. She's getting better, but she still likes to use her fingers. Her favorite food is raisins. Unfortunately, raisins are verbotten for dogs, and Boop loves to feed Winnie raisins. It's not a good situation.

taken by SF

Burnin'. #3 6-20-13

I just scarfed down a Potbelly sandwich. I didn't realize that it had been about 7 hours since lunch. A little less than an hour to kill before boarding; so I have been pretty successful in wasting an entire afternoon. What I needed the most was a nap, but there really hasn't been a place to rest. And my mouth is still on fire. The trick is to see how many barbecue chips and how much of the sandwich with peppers you can eat without taking a drink. Yep, that bored.

My world was almost turned on my head today. It hit me about halfway through the meeting this morning that there was a Potbelly at the airport. And so I figured I would eat something at a nearby restaurant for lunch and have a sandwich for dinner. Of course, as I'm walking to find lunch, I saw a Potbelly, and it upset my apple cart. But I had already planned to have it for dinner! The thought occurred to me to eat it twice... I figured I would opt for Thai for lunch. Best to have all of the crazy spicy food I can before I need to worry about the baby. She is a good sport and will try some mildly spicy things, but when the spice hits her, she is flailing her arms and rubbing her tongue in distress. I never give her anything that spicy, and it's not really consistent about what she will and won't eat. No pepperoni, yes beans and rice, no sausage, yes Kenyan goat stew, no sambosa, yes hummus. The glories of having a toddler. 

So much for the screen door!
Well, she had ripped a few months ago, but she ripped it even further. 

Growin' Like a Weed. #2 of 6-20-13

Have I used this title before? Have I heard this line before? Uh, yep. Relatives would see me at the holidays that I hadn't seen in a while. They'd give me a look over and then pronounce that I was 'growin' like a weed'. They were as equally likely to mean that I was growing out as much as growing up. Fortunately, neither is as true for me now, for the moment. However, Miss Boop has outpaced me in growth rate when I was her age. It's hard to believe she's 17 months old. I was talking to Mom, telling her that 'you won't believe how she's grown!' She said, "I know, I was just there last week!" "No Mom, I mean since you last saw her." She said, "Yes, I know she's gotten big." Hm. It didn't really sink in.

So what does she say when she arrives? "My goodness, I can't believe how big you've gotten! You've grown an inch since I was here last week!" She then informs me that 'she's really grown!' Yes, I was trying to tell her that on the phone. I guess you can't believe it unless you see it. Boop was already at the 85-90th %ile, but I don't know what her rate is like now. She's bigger than the boys in her class, and they're older. Mom was quick to tell me that she had outgrown her shoes. Well, I guess I'll have to figure something out, find some shoes somewhere. Maybe head back out for a few minutes to see what I can find. I've still got time to kill here in fabulous Gaithersburg.

Boop with her babysitters, showing something to Aunt D

You Be Illin'. 6-20-13

That's ridiculous. I don't know why it came to mind. Saddly, I'm lacking in fried chicken. But, I'm certainly sitting still for a minute, taking it all in--a rarity these days. I've actually been sitting here for an over an hour. Lovely Gaithersburg, MD hotel lobby. The joys of living in a small town are transportation issues. Our meeting finished up a little after noon today, and I have A LOT of time time kill before my flight at 10pm. The last flight back home was the same time as my meeting finished; so no luck there.

I piddled for a while, walking around looking at shops, had a bit of lunch with some fellow meeting-goers, and then went to shop a bit more. Earlier, I was thinking of going into DC for the afternoon, but I'm already tired. I would claim being old, which is true, but more the point, I've just been burning the fuse at both ends. 

In the past week, I had a grant due, and about the only time I could find to work was at about 2am until the baby woke up at 6am. Then, putting in a full day at work and chasing around a toddler all afternoon. Yesterday, I had a slight reprieve long enough to get my mom and aunt settled into the house before I had to leave. This morning, I woke up at 4:30am to fly in for the meeting. I'm thinking in the last 4 days, I've gotten a little over 10 hrs of sleep. And so, I'm hoping to get home to my little one soon. I took off work for a few hours tomorrow morning, but I know there is no sleeping in!

CHEERIO!

Don't Miss a Beat. 7-8-13

Boop's favorite song/commercial:

http://www.ispot.tv/ad/7wNm/tena-twist-dance