A Tale of Two Mamas
Trying to keep someone IN timeout
Archive for December, 2005
December 4, 2005 at 10:38 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Today we went to the Ithaca Commons and looked around. We also went to Center Ithaca and snacked on some tasty Indian Food, saw a very non-authentic Santa Claus, and watched a children’s play.
After that we decided to go look for a Christmas tree. We had packed Grammy’s Kiddie Sled that our friend’s Jen and Jen had given Graem for Christmas. To our dismay, Graem was sleeping like a log when we got to the tree farm. So we left her in the car with the warm heater and Margot and I went to find “the perfect tree.”
We had read earlier in the newspaper that this was a “custom cut” place and to us that read “We will cut the tree customly for you.” Well, not quite the case… When we walked up to the owner he handed me this hand saw and directed saying “The good trees are over the hill.” Now, if you haven’t been to Ithaca you probably don’t understand the perplexity of these words.
So we started up this big hill, mind you there’s a couple of inches of snow on the ground, looking for the “perfect tree”. Each tree we saw had some imperfection. Either it was too blue, or too small, or too big, or not full enough, or dead. So after hiking into the forest of dead and ugly trees, Margot suggests that we start walking back and try this some other day because it was getting dark.
The whole time we’re walking back I keep joking about picking these ugly trees that only have about 4 branches. So finally we’ve almost made it back to the car … and there it is … “THE PERFECT TREE”!
So, I get on my hands and knees and start sawing the tree. There’s certainly a reason why we got our perfect tree for a mere $22.00. Boy, was that a pain. Not to mention the fact that you have to lug your tree back to the front and on top of the car! So much for “custom”.
We get the tree home and Margot cuts the bad branches at the bottom off and we set it up in the tree stand. By this time Graem has woken up from her midday nap and really doesn’t seem the least bit amused or interested in our tree. So we turn on some Christmas music and start decorating. We string lights, and put the Christmas ornaments all over the tree. We had a strategy which was: put all of the wooden and non-breakable ornaments towards the bottom 3 feet and all the glass and breakable ones on the top 3 feet.
Between the two cats, one dog, and one baby — Margot and I have placed a bet that by tomorrow morning at least 2 balls will be broken on the floor. We probably had over 10 Christmas ball casualties from last year’s tree. Each night we would hear a crash while lying in bed, wake up the next day to find that either Murphy or Peanut (our two cats) had been playing with the ornaments and they had fallen and broken.
I’ll post a picture of our Perfect Christmas Tree soon!
December 4, 2005 at 10:15 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
I don’t even know where to begin but tonight I had the biggest scare of my life. Margot was in the bedroom putting away laundry or tinkering around and I thought she was watching Graem. I was also upstairs ironing some pants for Margot’s meeting tomorrow. All of a sudden I heard a loud bang on the stairs…I took a deep breath, gasped, and looked down at the stairs. All I could see was my little girl falling head over feet over each stair until she was at the bottom and on the hardwood floor.
My worst nightmare had come true.
I rushed down to get her nearly falling down and so did Margot.
After very very close examination it appears that nothing is hurt. She does have some redness on her left backside. And five minutes later she was playing with the remotes like nothing had happened and abusing the cats.
I can’t stop thinking that I really let her down as a parent and that I should have known that she was behind me. My mind keeps replaying in slow motion her falling down the stairs and I wish I could have been right underneath her taking the pain.
This really could have turned out tragic, broken bones, head injuries, and God only knows what else.
Tonight I lie in bed at 1:00 in the morning and as cheesy as this is have to believe that an angel was watching over Graem and really carried her down the stairs because it could have been so much worse.
I love this kid so much more than I ever thought possible.
This has been the month for falls down stairs: Margot fell down the stairs a few weeks ago and slid down about 6 stairs and ended up losing two glasses of water on the way. I fell down about 5 basement stairs with a big laundry basket and just felt achy. Now, Grammy beats us all and falls down a whole flight.
Anyone know of a nice ranch house for sale with no basement and a bathroom?
December 1, 2005 at 7:35 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
December 1, 2005 at 5:44 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Today Graem and I went grocery shopping. One thing Graem constantly does is she loves flirting. The good thing about this is that she always older ladies and many times they are in either electric scooters or wheelchairs. While we were in line at Wegmans Graem starts giggling at this lady and laughing and then talking in the highest pitch babytalk you’ve ever heard.
We’ve started doing more video of Graem lately because she’s so darn funny. She loves laughing and acting funny. She has the best sense of humor and if you give her “the look” she just starts giggling uncontrollably. She laughs so hard when Bailey, our dog and Murphy, our cat start fighting. She feels like it’s her responsibility to be the referee and she actually gets in between them and starts laughing.
Last night when Graem should have been sleeping she woke up for about 10 minutes just to look at me and smile. She then drifted off to bed and in her sleep she started shaking her head no and then started giggling and smiling. It was so nice to see that she’s such a happy baby even in her sleep.
It’s an exciting time because we just sent out invitations to Graem’s first birthday party and also it’s her first Christmas. This past year has gone by so fast. It’s amazing how much she’s learned and how big she’s grown. I’m so glad that I’ve been able to spend so much time with her and I feel like I haven’t missed a moment of her precious life. It makes me sad to know that we’re losing our baby and she’s now becoming more independant. I knew the day would come though…
Graem and I have started going to the Youth Bureaus Tot Spot every Tuesday and Thursday. It’s been a great time for Graem to play with other kids her age and also time for me to meet with other stay at home moms. Graem is by far the most physical (already walking, running, climbing) for her age and towers over all of the other children. There is an adorable little boy named, Miles who goes to the tot spot and Graem and him like to pass things back and forth. Miles’ mother is really nice too. It really puts Graem’s size into prospective though!! There are kids that are 16 months that are the same height as Graem and just starting to walk!
Again, this afternoon Graem made #2 and got a diaper and threw it on the floor and also got the tub of wipes and started taking them out. Isn’t that the most bizarre thing? She also said “Poop”.
This kid is too darn smart!
We’ve just added pictures to our website - so enjoy!
It’s time for me to run…Grammy’s paging Mama!!
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