"Babymarch"

...is what Sody said all day last Saturday when we did the March of Dimes "March for Babies" walk in San Francisco. Gorgeous weather and a gorgeous route to walk along the water towards the Golden Gate Bridge that morning. Sody walked a good portion of it, but of course 2 year olds don't exactly stay focused on the task at hand. She wanted to run on every grassy area we passed, jump off every rock, and run on the beach and roll in the sand. So we took our time - about three hours start to finish. A great day, a great cause, and a reminder of how lucky we are to have our healthy girl.

Also - have you tried those Plum Organics fruit sauce-in-a-pouch thingys? They were one of the sponsors so they would give out samples along the route and Sody discovered a new favorite snack. She must have had five or six of those pouches that day. Loving free food - she gets that from her mother, definitely.

Easter Sunday

Easter was a low-key affair around here. We convinced Sody that the Easter Bunny dropped by while she was playing in her room and she just happened to miss him. Amen to gullibility at this age. So we had a small egg hunt and a basket hiding in our room for her. She definitely had fun but was most interested in throwing Easter grass all over the living room and getting all the jelly beans ("gee-wee beans") out of the eggs and into her mouth. The girl has a one track mind when it comes to jelly beans.

March for Babies

I am happy to announce that Joe, Sody and I are going to do the March of Dimes "March for Babies" event again this year! We did the march in Sacramento two years ago when Sody was a teeny tiny thing and had a great (inspiring, exhilarating, fun) time. Now we are going to tackle the S.F. walk at Fort Mason on April 30 and I am really looking forward to it. 6 miles! It'll be interesting to see how much of it Sody will want to actually walk.

If you want to find out more or donate to the cause - or even walk with us! I swear it's fun! - check out my fundraising site: www.marchforbabies.org/aliciapeterson

Thanks!!

Monterey Interlude

After our hospital visit of the last post - like, literally, 12 hours after - Sody and I headed to Monterey. Why, you ask? Well, I unexpectedly found myself with no babysitting work for the week (Random Event #1) and my parents just happened to be in Monterey for a little romantic getaway (Random Event #2). Since those two random events rarely happen at the same time, we decided to take advantage of it and crash my parents' party. We lived it up: getting soaked at the beach and eating fancy food and sleeping on the floor of the fancy digs and Sody making her first trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Thanks for letting us ruin your romantic weekend, Grandma and Grandpa! We loved it.

The Stuff That Really Makes You Feel Like a Parent

Sody got hurt last week. Not at all seriously, but it was out of the ordinary enough to warrant an emergency room trip at four a.m. FUN!! What she had was something called nursemaid's elbow, which I had never heard of before that night but is apparently pretty common in kids under five. Basically a little bone in the elbow gets dislocated and it hurts and the kid stops using his/her arm. (Side note: Don't yank on your kids' hands! Don't swing them around by the hands! Don't pull their little arms hard through sleeves! All of these can cause nursemaid's elbow. It's real!) Joe had been getting Sody ready for bed and held her hands to pull her up from the changing table. She usually pushes herself up onto her feet but this time resisted and Joe heard a little pop. And that was all it took: busted baby arm.

So she cried for a bit and while there was something obviously wrong with her arm (she just kept holding it at a ninety degree angle and close to her body), she wasn't in constant pain or anything. We gave her some baby Tylenol, tucked her in as usual, and spent a few hours wondering if we did the right thing. What we should have done. Stressing about how much an ER visit would cost. Looking up "nursemaid's elbow" on the internet. Feeling like crappy parents because we didn't take her straight to the doctor when everything on the internet about nursemaid's elbow says to take the kid straight to the doctor. Etc. It was an odd, confusing night. One where you realize this parenting stuff is so not clear cut at all.

She eventually woke up around 3:30, not able to sleep, still not able to use her arm. Seeing that little bent baby arm stuck in that position where she couldn't move it was just too sad - and that was when it finally got through to our thick heads to take her in and get her fixed up. Nothing else really mattered at that point. And it definitely ended up being the right move: the ER was dead at that time in the morning, our triage nurse was Swedish (!), and the fix for Sody's arm took about ten seconds - all the doctor did was a little rotating and flexing move and that elbow popped back in. It seemed to really hurt as the doctor was doing it, but literally seconds later Sody was fine and moving her arm and totally happy. It was an amazingly quick transformation. Plus she got a juice box, so her world totally rocked at that point. I was completely flooded with relief when I saw her high fiving with that arm again. And I am pretty sure Sody saw the whole thing as a total adventure - being up in the middle of the night, driving around in her pajamas, getting juice at the doctor's. We were so stinkin' happy it was a simple thing and that our kid was back to normal...so much so that we got donuts and hot chocolate on the way home and let her feast on sugar and cartoons at six in the morning for being such a good sport. I am pretty sure she is going to have a very positive attitude toward going to the doctor from here on out. Or expect treats every time. Oops.


before: ouchie arm


after: working arm (and juice)


way after: donuts at home

Time To Start Playing the Bikini Kill Records

In the spirit of International Women's Day this past week, I have to tell you: Isota seems to have some weird ideas about gender so far. We first noticed it whenever we would talk about school. Like, if we pass a school and talk about what school is and how she will go to one someday along with other kids, she consistently responds to the conversation with "Boy." Always, always just "Boy." And we try to clarify what she means, because it seems to be that she means boys go to school and girls don't. So of course we always tell her that girls go to school too, that girls do everything boys do. (We leave out the peeing-standing-up thing, because that whole ball of wax has got to be confusing to someone who hasn't even mastered the potty yet. Hell, it's sort of confusing to me, too.)

So the school thing was a little weird, but we figured maybe she just saw something on a cartoon where a boy goes to school (I am thinking Caillou, perhaps...Does anyone else watch that little Canadian cartoon? She is way into it) and now has it stuck in her head about that boy going to school. Who really knows what's going on in a 2 year old brain, eh? No biggie. But now I am noticing a new trend: at the park, when she tackles something a little out of her comfort zone like a tall ladder, she gets a little scared at the top and asks for me to help get her down. Then when she is safely back on the ground she says, "Boy." Sometimes it's, "No Sody. Boy." Like a boy can do that crazy ladder climbing, not her. Whhhaaaa? OF COURSE you can do it too, Sody!! This is not a good development. Where would she get this sort of idea? I would normally be able to explain it away with the thought that the older and bigger boys can climb up those ladders easy peasy, but we have seen plenty of girls her age and younger tackle them, too.

She is not shy and not afraid to try things, for which I am so grateful. So it makes these little "boy" episodes even weirder to me, and it gets me worked up. I know she is too young to be worried about inferiority complexes and things, but it's a tiny little glimmer of what may crop up down the line. And I want to end it right here. I want her to know that she is not inferior to anyone. I want her to know how strong, smart, and capable she is. I want her to know her worth. I want her to think for herself and tackle things and ideas and park ladders for the rest of her life.

A Life in the Arts

practicing xylophone


playing records with Daddy


painting with watercolors



and, uh, fashion? yes, this is three pairs of panties at once, a diaper and my hat. Sody's idea of an outfit.

This is My Latest Butter Tree

Isota's speech has been coming at us like a freight train these past few weeks. Everyone says when it happens it happens fast and that has been true for us so far. Honestly, for a while there, I was a little...not "worried" per se, but definitely wondering exactly where all her words were. She has had plenty of individual words for a while, but I keep meeting kids around the same age or younger who seem to be a little more advanced in that department. Of course, it's not fair to compare kids and everyone has their own little language timetable and blah blah blah...but at the same time it does make you step back a little and go, "What is going on here?"

But man, the last few weeks have been crazy. Repeating all sorts of things we say, busting out two word phrases all over the place, sometimes three words, and even a couple of full-on sentences: "I love you Mama" was the first one. Sure, it wasn't spontaneous and she was merely repeating what Joe said, but the point is that she said it! Those little words came out of her little mouth! In her sweet little voice! It's enough to melt your little black heart, eh? Another sentence I caught her saying the other day was "Happy Birthday To Me" which cracked me up because that is pretty much her favorite song right now. She insists on me singing it every night before bed. She is a weirdo.

Last week she was going on and on about a "butter tree." And I was like, WTF? Butter tree? Half the fun of this new found speech stuff is the figuring out what exactly she is talking about. The butter tree threw me for a bit. And then she was playing with her little kiddie laptop toy (oh yes, they have those) and she pushed a particular button on it and it spoke: "Blog Entry!" And then Sody said, "Butter Tree!" AH HA! So not only have we gone from single words to simple phrases in a very short time, we have also made the leap into computer speak. Be sure to look for Sody's own blog soon. She is going to surpass me in smarts and talents way sooner than I would like, I can already tell.

Finlaw Family Fun

The East Coast Finlaws left last week, and we have finally gotten our house all put back together. (Kidding! You guys are great guests! The living room looks downright empty without an air mattress in the middle of the floor...) We had lots of adventures, lots of quality hanging out, and lots of yummy food. Let's just say Sody really mastered the term "french fry" in the last couple of weeks. We miss you guys!!

It's a Finlaw Party

Look who's visiting? And look who's loving it?

Ain't No Party Like a Sody Lou Party

...cuz a Sody Lou party don't stoooooop...

Witness Sody's birthday party. There was a strawberry theme, can you tell? Joe and I had been a little worried pre-party about having enough space for everyone, but it worked out. I learned that no matter the size of the space, kids will always figure out a way to run around and have fun. And no one cares about sitting on the ground. Thanks, friends! I also learned that I never need to cook for a party because really all anyone wants to eat are frozen mini pizzas. Thanks, Trader Joe's! Friends and little ones and sugar and toys and mayhem and a little frosting mashed into the carpet = successful birthday.

Portrait of the Procrastinator as a Young Girl

SCENE:
Last night, Sody's room, dim lights, cozy in the rocking chair together, just finished reading stories and ready for bed.

SODY: (leaning back in my arms) "Raw. Saw." (translation: "Rock me, please. And sing a song while you are at.")

MOMMY: "What song?"

SODY: "Happy boo-hee" ("Happy Birthday" - a current favorite because she has been hearing it a lot lately)

Mommy sings "Happy Birthday." Even the second verse where it asks "How old are you now?" a bunch of times and each time Sody diligently answers "Two."

SODY: (makes funny little moves with her fingers) "Di? Di?" (translation: "Can we sing 'Itsy Bitsy Spider' now?")

Mommy sings Itsy Bitsy Spider.

SODY: "Star?" (Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)

Mommy sings Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

SODY: "Doe?"

Mommy sings Do-Re-Mi from Sound of Music.

SODY: "Happy Boohee?" (she ran out of song titles she knows so we start at the beginning again)

Mommy sings Happy Birthday. Again. And then finally tells Sody that it's lights out time.

END SCENE.

Yep, I can be a pushover at nighttime, but tell me how you would resist this face:

The One Where We Have a Two Year Old

It was Miss Isota's 2nd birthday yesterday! I feel like she has already been two for a while, oddly enough...when people ask me how old she is, I have been saying "She's almost two" for so long now. And she has been practicing her answer on that same question for a long time - she says "Two" and can gets her little peace sign out to show people how many fingers "two" looks like. But yesterday was her actual birthday, the day where two very short years ago everything changed and we met this crazy little nugget. Who knew she was going to grow into such a hilarious toddler? Who knew she was going to be so cute and smart and so dang sweet? Who knew that after we put her to bed every night we would end up on the couch talking about how stinkin' lucky we are to have such an amazing girl? We didn't know any of that then but we do know. Happy Birthday, Sody Boo. We love you so much it's kind of ridiculous.