Things I want to record

This is just some stuff that I want to write down for my own records. It is journaling for me as opposed to posting.

My mom teaches my girls piano and as we were leaving the lessons last night, Madelin asked me to 'pick a number between 1 and 5'. So I picked '2'. She said, "Okay---the two super powers that I would pick to have are: #1--the power to move things with my mind and #2--the power to make boys fall in love with me" My mom looked a little shocked, but I found it funny. Madelin has a super-crush on Eragon (the actor in the movie) and is currently deep into Eldest, the second book in the series. I do my best to play my part in our serious discussions about Eragon and who-thinks-who-is-cute-in-4th-grade conversations. I don't want her to think that I find it so amusing that she doesn't continue to tell me this stuff in the coming years. But it is amusing. She is 10 years old now; it seems so old. Whenever I am in the store, carrying Jane around, people ask me, "Is she your first?". After being flattered that anyone would think I look young enough to be having my first, I have to answer that I have a 10 and nearly-8 year old at home. It is funny how in public, people find it so adorable when a mom is carrying around just one precious little baby, but they find it annoying to see 2, 3, or 4 kids under the age of 5 running circles around a grocery cart. A very pregnant woman, her husband, and her three young kids were on the same Walmart aisle as me yesterday. She looked tired and exasperated. Looking at me, she said, "Enjoy this-- it is so much more difficult with three". I probably shouldn't have replied that I did have three, because she looked so worn down. But I do--and although I waited so many years for Janie (I expected her in 2002!!), it certainly makes a difference in the dynamics of our family to have her now. I can't complain about that.

Janie is turning out to be quite a pleasant little baby. She was so gassy and woke up so often at night during the first 2 months that I thought she might be a terrible sleeper. But now I can just put her in her crib and kiss her goodnight and she goes to sleep on her own for both naps and bedtime. She goes to bed about 7:30 and wakes up at 7. She sometimes cries for a few minutes, but not much. In the morning, I just find her playing in her crib. She has created her own version of peek-a-boo. She turns her head to the side (away from me) and keeps it there (I, of course, supply the soundtrack . . "Where's Janie?? Where's Janie?") She then quickly flips her head back to me and gives me a huge grin. And repeats. Yesterday, she tried to "hide" by turning her head to the side towards me; I had to mess up her plan by bending down, looking her in the eye and telling her, "I can still see you . . ." She figured it out and went back to her previous m.o. During the day, she takes a couple 2 or 3 hour naps and usually a third shorter one too. When she's awake, she's just happy to hang out with me in her sling or play on the ground. Maybe all 6 month babies get this sweet and predictable; I know it is a pretty amenable age, but I really am enjoying it. Jane's sitting is getting better, but I don't dare leave her sitting without some soft padding around her; eventually, she always ends up on the ground. Jane's babbles mostly consist of growling. No "da-da's" yet, just a lot of growling. When she gets into a growling streak, I honestly don't know what she is trying to communicate. It sounds like she is playing, but is on the verge of serious irritation, but it doesn't ever escalate. I guess she must just like the sound of all the growls. I growled back at her the other day and it startled her and made her cry. Oops. Thought I was being cute too. She is very much into her solid foods now, even though I tried to put it off due to the inconvenince of feeding solids. I kind of wanted to wait until she was 6 months old, but Janie had other ideas. I started her on solids at about 5 months. She likes rice cereal, but prefers the oatmeal. Currently, applesauce and peaches have yet to appeal to her; she puckers up her face and spits them both out. She is ambivalent about green beans and enjoys both sweet potatoes and pears; but not together. All of this will probably change in a month or two, so I wanted to write it down. She is liking taking baths more and more. I used to take her in the tub with me, but lately, I have been putting her in by herself in a few inches of water. Lying on her back, she propels herself around the tub and has discovered the engaging game of splashing with her hands and arms. I get such a kick out of watching her enjoy the water. I hope she learns to like water enough that she'll go in the pool with me this summer. Bath water and pool water have quite a difference in temperature, so I have my fingers crossed.