A Tale of Two Mamas
Trying to keep someone IN timeout
Archive for August, 2005
August 29, 2005 at 11:02 pm · Filed under Actual posts about being moms
We had a long weekend packed with fairs! Rachel visited us this weekend and came with us to the Trumansburg Fair–the last time she was here, Graem was barely awake. Now Graem is eating cotton candy and corn dogs and watching the rides! Graem got to pet some goats at the Trumansburg Fair, and watched a presentation on SuperChammies in the Verizon Center of Progress at the State Fair. By the way, there is nothing international about the Pepsi International Pavilion, unless you consider pizza a “taste of the Old World.”
Graem has been crawling around like mad, and cruising from couch to table and we’re sure it’s a matter of time before she takes off! She occasionally gets stuck under a piece of furniture, so that slows her down for the time being. She loves playing in Bailey’s water bowl, and has probably had a few bites of kibble. She laughs hysterically when Bailey jumps or plays with her, and just loves taking handfuls of hair from Peanut and Murphy.
We are about to abandon baby food–Graem eats just about everything we do, from curry (Indian and Thai) to barbecue. I’ve made her some yams and peaches, but I think she would much rather have what we’re having! Bottle is still pretty erratic, but she’ll drink water out of your cup. Operative word being “Your,” since she’ll never drink out of “her” cup.
If we’re lucky she still goes down for at least one nap a day. We’re thankful that she still sleeps 12-14 hours at night.
Graem loves playing with her LeapFrog table and dances to all the obnoxious songs. She has started playing “I want what you have” with Shawna, and sings along to songs.
As much as we love that she is learning new things and whizzing through all the stages, we’re sad that she isn’t a tiny baby any more. We were reorganizing and putting away some clothes the other day, and I started crying when Shawna showed me a newborn diaper and the first outfit she wore at the hospital.
August 10, 2005 at 11:03 pm · Filed under Actual posts about being moms
The boys are going cycling today, while the girls are heading to the beach. Graem is being bad baby today–she won’t nap, and I’m noticing more and more how dependent she is on the breast to go to sleep. She will be about 75% asleep when I try to sneak away, and then she’ll wail the second my nipple is out of her mouth. I’ve even tried sneaking the pacifier into her mouth, to no avail. So, basically it means I have to stay with her and nurse her until she is 100% asleep, or until I fall asleep, whichever comes first. It is taking up to an hour to get her to sleep, which means I’m pretty exhausted by the time she gets 2 naps a day plus bedtime. Reading is now a luxury only to be afforded after bedtime, when she’s most likely to stay asleep for more than 45 minutes.
August 9, 2005 at 11:04 pm · Filed under Actual posts about being moms, Travel
Shawna and the boys went fishing today with the Cee Jay fishing tour, with the intent of catching dinner. After 1 PM had come and gone, Graem and I decided to head to Commercial. We ran into Shawna and the guys with a couple of bags of fish–they had insisted that they each caught a bluefish. I knew from the minute I saw them that they had either snuck to the local fish market and bought the fish, or taken someone else’s! It in fact had turned out to be the latter, as they fished the whole morning without a bite. Of course they had the luck of fishing next to a vegetarian couple who had no intentions of eating their fish, who caught a fish.
Alex, Dom, Graem and I headed off to the beach while Shawna napped. Graem pooped the entire time we were at the beach. She’s also stopped eating the sand, now she spends the time trying to walk.
Alex and Dominic made a fabulous dinner with the bluefish they inherited: macadamia and coconut crusted filets with a mango/pineapple peri-peri salsa, steamed rappi, and sauteed eggplant. We also finished a bottle of Wagner Niagara. I was finally able to get a little bit of reading done of Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister.
August 8, 2005 at 11:05 pm · Filed under Actual posts about being moms, Travel
We had originally intended to do the dune riding today, but due to some drama involving breakfast (something about Alex’s tortilla hispaniola and orange juice) we had to cancel that trip. Shawna, Graem and I went east down Commercial, while we waited for the guys to make up. We went to the Patio for lobster rolls–we had been craving them since we saw them at Mystic Seaport, but were too cheap to buy them! They were all we had hoped and dreamed, but the slaw that came with them left something to be desired. The slaw was made with fennel, radicchio and onions in a weak, vinegar and mustard dressing.
We spent the afternoon at the beach again–even though the ambient temperature was cooler, the water was great and refreshing. That night we grilled a steak, some veggies, and had salad and corn for dinner. We also drank way too much, as we finished the bottle of rum with Alex’s mojitos.
August 7, 2005 at 11:05 pm · Filed under Actual posts about being moms, Travel
Grocery mishap #1–Alex and I went to Angel Foods, which is a great gourmet deli/market, but not the place to do your week’s groceries! We didn’t know where the other grocery stores were, besides the two gas stations adjacent to where we’re staying. I’d already stopped there for basics–eggs, milk, and bread–but we still needed meals for the majority of our stay. We ended up spending over $80 for three bags of groceries, and just got lunch meats and snacks!
Graem’s first beach day! We went to Herring Cove beach, which was packed. We are so glad the guys brought their National Parks Pass, because it covered the $15/day fee we would have paid otherwise! The sand and water were actually at the perfect temperature–we didn’t burn our feet walking across the beach, and we could actually go swimming! Graem loved it–she was mesmerized by the waves, and loved splashing in the water. She also ate as much sand as her little heart desired, and pooped it out the next day.
The only unfortunate event was when the wind picked up a little and blew the umbrella over, and the pole hit Graem square in the head as I was in the middle of feeding her. She wailed a little but was fine. We all got a little summer reading in, and just had a great time. We also met Nina and her son Sam from Ithaca, which was serendipitous–I only knew her from an email, but Shawna somehow put two and two together and guessed it was them. Luckily she told us where the local grocery store was so we could do some normal shopping!
After getting in from the beach, we all took our showers and rested up a bit, and Alex made us some fabulous mojitos with fresh mint from the garden. We then left to walk on Commercial and find a place to eat. We passed several places until we finally decided to stop at Bayside Betsy’s, mostly because there wasn’t a wait and it didn’t look too busy–it was already 8:30 or so and Graem could break down at any minute. The moment we walked in, Betsy (I assume THE Betsy) grabbed Graem, went to the cash register to get some money, gave the bills to Graem, and walked away with Graem to give the patrons their change! Betsy totally loved Graem, and kept checking in on her. Our meal was pretty good: the Vietnamese shrimp satay were tiny, so I wouldn’t get them; the guys got some lobster bisque that was good; Shawna got the lobster alfredo; I got the broiled seafood medley–greasy but yummy; Alex got the scallops with chorizo over fettuccine–the red sauce was pretty good; Dom got the stuffed flounder. Our server all but disappeared for the second half of our meal, but by then Graem had fallen asleep in my lap and I didn’t care about much else.
Once Graem’s asleep, life gets much easier: I was able to just carry her in my arms and keep her asleep, and we continued shopping up and down Commercial. When we got back in, we laid out our daily agenda for the rest of the week, since there were some things the guys wanted to do that we didn’t (or couldn’t, with Graem).
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