Month: February 2005

Thumb Sucking

Sarah Carolyn

Carolyn is learning at least one new trick every day. Literally in the past 24 hours my binky-addict has decided that her thumb is way better. To be perfectly honest, I really don’t mind if she starts sucking her thumb (I keep trying to type that as “thucking her sumb”) instead of using a pacifier, because that means she won’t cry for us to put her pacifier back in during the night. Granted, it’s harder to take away a thumb, but I kind of figure either way – binky or thumb – she won’t be needing it in college. (Well, she’ll need her thumb, but not to help her fall asleep I hope!)

She apparently comes by it honestly: both Denis and my mother were thumb-suckers. Maybe it’s genetic? So far she doesn’t seem to be favoring one thumb over the other. Does that mean she’s thumbidextrous? (Sorry. It’s really not that late, but I haven’t gotten much sleep the past few nights. I’m going to just close up these parentheses, hit “publish”, and go to bed. ‘k?)

Screaming Mimi

Sarah Carolyn

Carrie’s earned a new nickname. She’s our beloved little Nazgul. Seriously, she’s been testing the upper limits of her vocal range (and volume) for the past two days. I think my hearing is starting to suffer. Is this a normal developmental thing? Because if she weren’t doing it with a smile on her face I’d really think that she was in great agony over something. But since it’s interlaced with giggles and smiles and normal babble, I think she’s just playing with her voice. Right?

And then last night, the first time ever that Denis and I sat down to watch a movie after Carrie went to bed, she all of a sudden decided that her mattress was filled with rocks. Or something. I don’t know, all I know is every ten minutes she would wake up very, very angry. Needless to say, we didn’t watch our movie. At least it’s wintertime and the windows are shut – if they were open, I would have fully expected the police to show up last night, between the shrieking and the wailing and the gnashing of…um…gums. Tonight seems to be going better. We’ve watched the rest of our movie and she’s still asleep. Now I need to go to sleep!

Spamalot!

Sarah Music

No, not the email or comment spam kind – although now that I mention it, I haven’t had a comment spam attack in a while…I wonder why? Anyway, we’re going to see Spamalot for our anniversary! We bought front row center balcony seats – which I personally think are way better than orchestra seats, and I’m glad that the rest of the world doesn’t think so, because this way they’re also cheaper. (They also require significantly more stair-climbing, so we’ll get our exercise too!)

Now I just have to wait 86 more days…

Four Months Old!

Sarah Monthly Updates

Dear Carolyn,

Today you are four months old. I can hardly believe it. A year ago I had just found out that I was pregnant with you, and here you are, a fascinating little person who’s working so hard at learning about this great big world. As of yesterday you weigh 14 pounds and are 24 inches tall, although your official check-up isn’t until next week. (Sorry, you’ll have more shots then too…)

I think every day you learn something new. You are gaining so much control over your body – sometimes when you wave your arms and hands around it’s so smooth you look like a dancer. Just these past couple of weeks you found your head. You like to rub your forehead and cheeks. The first time you did it you looked like you were trying to say “oh, my aching head.” For all I know it does ache, since you’ve been teething a lot lately. We have several teething toys for you – chilled, textured, chilled and textured – but your hands down favorite is…hands. You’ve also discovered that you can grab your feet. Those haven’t quite made it into your mouth, but I’m sure it’s just a matter of time!

You’ve completely fallen in love with books. Your two favorites at the moment are “That’s Not My Puppy!” and “Where’s Spot?” You start giggling just as soon as I show you the cover of a book, and you try to help me turn the pages. We could read those two books over and over for an hour and you still wouldn’t get bored. At this point in time your library consists mainly of puppy themed books. I’m trying to branch out a bit, really I am!

You also have become interested in the piano. You like to sit on Daddy’s or my lap and press down on the keys. We’ll be starting formal lessons tomorrow. Just kidding, although I do play scales for you and name the keys while I do it – maybe you’ll have a head start when it’s time for you to learn? (I promise I won’t force you to take lessons if you don’t want to.)

You’ve added some new words to your stories – ah-boo and raspberries. And bath time is becoming much more fun, since you’ve learned that you can splash the water with your hands and feet. We’ve started having you sleep for at least part of the night in your crib in your very own room down the hall, too. That’s harder for me than it is for you, I think. In general you’re becoming much more independent – you can occupy yourself for quite a while and not even miss me, especially if your beloved wind chimes are available.

It doesn’t seem possible, but you’re becoming more fun to be with every day. It’s so exciting to watch you learn and grow!

Love, Mommy

More Books!

Sarah Reading

I’m still reading the Discworld books, but I also picked up the first three books of the Earthsea series by Ursula K. Le Guin. I’m halfway through book three and I’ll have to go back and get the other three soon. They are fantastic! It’s strange, I’d always thought I’d read something by her because her name sounds so familiar, but none of the book titles do…

I hadn’t been doing all that much reading before Carrie was born because I spent all my free time knitting. Now that most of my free time is spent snuggling my sleeping baby, I only have a hand free to hold a book instead of the two hands I’d need to knit. This is a perfectly fine trade-off, as far as I’m concerned, because the knitting will still be there when Carrie’s older and too big to nap in my lap. And I’m sure that will be sooner than I’d like! (Of course, then I won’t have any excuses not to clean house or do the laundry while she’s napping, either.)

One Year Ago

Sarah Carolyn

One year ago today, I found out I was pregnant. Actually, I had taken a test the night before, and saw a faint line, but then I looked at the expiration date on the box and realized that it had expired more than a year before, so I didn’t think I should believe the results. Being the total geek that I am, when I went to buy new tests and saw these digital ones, I had to get them. This was the easy test – after I took this one I had to have blood drawn every 48 hours for the next week and a half to check my hormone levels.

Not a lot of people know this, but it took us three years and infertility treatments to get pregnant. In fact, this was the last “easy” cycle – instead of just taking drugs, I was going to have to start giving myself injections if this one didn’t work. We fell into the “unexplained” infertility category. Nothing particularly wrong with either of us, but things just weren’t working anyway.

It was a really hard couple of years. Every time I heard someone else’s wonderful news, I was happy for them, but I cried for what I was starting to believe I’d never have. I can’t believe I can say this after all those tears, but I’m actually glad things worked out the way they did. If everything had gone as planned and I had gotten pregnant in those first few months, we would not have ended up with this particular child, and she is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to us. She is worth everything we went through to get her. She is our miracle.

We do want to have another child someday, if we can, but if it’s not meant to be that’s ok too. I made sure to cherish every minute of being pregnant – even the uncomfortable ones – just in case it never happens for me again.

Random Bits of Cuteness

Sarah Carolyn

I bought Carolyn a pair of sunglasses the other day when it was bright out. I guess they’re still a little big…

Tuesday, it was somewhat warm – 55°F – the sun was out, and the breeze was mild. Carolyn and I went outside for a bit, and the warm breeze on her cheeks and the bright sunlight made her smile and giggle. I can’t wait until it’s warm enough to take her for walks outdoors instead of in the mall. I’d almost forgotten that this will be her first spring! Of course, since Tuesday it’s been bitter cold.

For the past week or so, Carolyn has been enthralled with the dogs. She stares intently at them whenever they cross into her field of vision, and smiles and laughs at them. For the most part, the dogs totally ignore her, but sometimes one of them will come up and sniff her just as she’s leaning to get a better look, and their eyes meet. I haven’t managed to catch it on camera yet, but trust me, it’s adorable.

Sylvan

Sarah Dogs

February 13, 1994 – February 17, 2005
Today my parents had to put down one of their two dogs, Sylvan. He had just turned 11, and was diagnosed with inoperable stomach cancer a couple of months ago. My family adopted him the first year I was away at college, so although I didn’t really grow up with him, he was a constant presence whenever I would go home for school vacations and later whenever I would visit. He was a gentle, loving yellow lab, and I will miss him.

Further Proof That I’m A Bad Mom

Sarah Carolyn


Yes, I dress my little girl in blue. Yes, she looks like a boy. So what? It brings out her pretty blue eyes, too.

Denis and I bought this outfit on purpose because we’d had a bit much of pink after dressing Carolyn in nothing but pink for the first 6 weeks of her life. Besides, I think it’s cute – the onesie says “From my head to my toes, how I love it when it snows!” This is an important thing to teach a child growing up in this climate early on.

(And yes, my daughter is barefoot. In February. No socks! Very. Bad. Mom.)