Sleepover

E had a sleepover at Grandma's last night.

I was worried she might be nervous, so when it was time to leave, I sat down and put my arm around her:

"I'm going to leave now, okay?"

In exasperation:

"You're leaving WITHOUT ME, Mom. Don't you remember?"

"Yes, I remember, I just thought I would tell you I was going. Do you want me just to go?"

"Yes, WITHOUT ME!!!"

Boy, I'm feeling the love there.

Apparently last night she talked to my mom in bed for half an hour before she fell asleep.

giggle, giggle, giggle

Then, this morning, when she woke up, she asked my mom if the lights were off (at Target). My mom said yes.

Then, she called to say good morning to Daddy.

Not to me.

But don't worry, she didn't talk to him long, because she wanted a treat.

*****

I think it's safe to say that when that girl goes to college, there will be no looking back.

Still, it's been a very quiet morning in these parts. I haven't been bossed around once this morning.

And M is still sleeping!

Everybody's Wingman

This morning, M took her shoe and began licking the bottom of it.

Luckily, E was nearby. She was able to ask such helpful questions as:

"M, does that taste good?"

"M, is that yummy?"

What are big sisters for, after all?

*****

Meanwhile, last night she informed Justin that he was her favorite Daddy because:

"You have freckles and you're fat, which is very Daddy-ish."



Boy do we love her, and all the crazy things she comes up with...

A conversation between E and her lunch, and other sundry news...

Chicken Nugget: Where is my father? Where is my father?
E: It is in my tummy.
Chicken Nugget: Please, can I go there to?
E: Of course, I would not forget you. No, I would not forget you.


*****

Thank you for the book suggestions. I have read Book Thief and Life of Pi, both very good. I've been told by everyone to read the potato book, and almost bought it once. I will have to move forward on that one. I am on goodreads, but I'm definitely a delinquent and haven't the foggiest what my password is. Perhaps I'll repent. If I get over being extremely lazy.

*****

As for an explanation of our braxton hicks, we do have a school who has asked us on a first date - no marriage plans yet. It's been fun to learn about them, and I think our family would be happy there. Justin flies out next Friday, we'll see how it goes. Either the hospital will admit us and we'll get on with the birth, or they'll look at us like we're crazy and send us back home because we are negatively dialated.

Don't you love how I'm mixing my metaphors? It makes for highly sensical reading.

Help please....

.... I need a good book.

Usually I read children's books, but I'm in the mood for an adult book with substance.

Substance I don't want:

Gratuitous sex, violence, swearing.

Hmmm, adult book without gratuitous sex, violence, swearing.

I also don't like to be depressed.

I'm sorry but anyone who stays home all day with the kiddos doesn't need any tipping to the slightly insane side of being sane.

See how much sense that makes???? Exactly my point!

So, go ahead. Give me some suggestions.

Because I'm trying to stay off the computer, so I need a book for my 5 minute moments.

The end.

Insert Title Here:

E informed me the other day that she had a simple little system for determining whether it was morning or not. If the lights at Target are on, she has to go back to sleep. If they are off, she can get out of bed.

I was relating this story to Justin when I asked him:

"Do you think we could pay them to keep the lights on longer?"

E heard me from the back of the van:

"But why would you want to keep them on looooonnnnngggeeer?????"

*****

I went to make GQ his lunch.

When I came back M was feeding him out of an empty bowl with an empty play fork.

He was taking bites dutifully... hoping maybe something might be in the next forkfull.

*****

I have informed Justin that waiting to hear back from schools is like waiting for a baby to be born.

Every day you wake up and wonder: Is today the day????

And every night you go to sleep thinking: I guess not.

We are having a few braxton hicks.... we'll see if they turn into the real thing.

Not One For Shopping, but....

.... this place is not too expensive and they will put sleeves on dresses.

Sleeves.

Sleeves.

Sleeves.

Wow. I haven't had an actual dress for ages. Just skirts and shirts.

They also will do other things like change the neckline and stuff (I am such a sewer, and "stuff" is a technical term).

And since, I also know how to create links (ha ha) look here:

http://www.eshakti.com/


***** Funny how "sewer" as in: person who sews, looks like "sewer" as in stinky place where rats live. I am neither a sewer nor a sewer.

So there.

It is a truth universally acknowledged...

.... that if your baby starts to sleep through the night, something sinister is going to happen.

Last week GQ slept through the night three nights in a row. And I'm not talking 5:00 wake-up. I'm talking 7:30 to 8:00.

Since he is the third child, I waited for the inevitable regression.

On the fourth night he caught M's colicky cough.

He now wakes up about every 15 minutes to hack up his 82nd lung and moan a sad moan.

It is very sad.

Both for him...

... and for me.

But honestly, I knew it was coming. I could hardly enjoy the full nights with all the wondering about when they would end.

The New Style

Ever since I got married I have sported one white hair on my forehead.

Recently, more than one hair has begun to sprout.

Justin always wants to pull them out. Not because he cares if I have white hair. It's just that he is slightly OCD and does not like that they are "different".

I don't ever let him, mostly because I'm a baby and I think it hurts when people pull my hair out. But in the interest of not seeming like I'm a wimp, I always tell him he can't pull them out becaue I am trying to grow a streak, a la Rogue and Polgara the Sorceress.

I'm sure most of you know who Rogue is, but as for Polgara - she's a character in one of my favorite books growing up, a book written by David Eddings.

I remember the first time I read a David Eddings book. I remember feeling the words roll around in my head and thinking, "Oh, that's what writing is." Up until then I'd read mostly children's chapter books. After I read the first paragraph of "The Pawn of Prophecy," I remember putting it back in my desk drawer. I wanted to think before I read anymore. I could tell an entire world waited for me in that book.

Looking back at David Eddings from where I am now, I never get quite the same feeling as I did that first time. He writes mass market fantasy, not literary fiction. This isn't Dickens, Austen, or Tolstoy. He doesn't have the vocabulary of Nathaniel Hawthorne (thank goodness, says Justin). But he's the writer who hooked me to reading.

And that's something. That's really something.

Better than Tolstoy.

Last night at dinner, Justin and I were discussing editors and "published writers." E wanted to join in the grown-up conversation (surprise, surprise).

She said: "Is a published writer cool?"

Justin said: "Yes."

E said, after a little thought: "Then I want to be a published writer when I grow up."

I guess she's more like me than I thought.

Perhaps one day she'll write something that hooks someone else onto reading. Perhaps someday I will.

But in the meantime, I'll stick to growing my white streak. It's a tad bit easier.

And after all, it is a little bit fun to bug Justin.