Books

So, yesterday was a book day for me.

First of all, Papaya goes to the library every couple of Saturday's. Yesterday, was that day. I asked him to see if they had a copy of the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Well, he got a little overwhelmed with all the books about Benjamin Franklin. Instead, he brought me this other book on Benjamin Franklin. Considering it is the second book that comes up when you search Amazon for Benjamin Franklin and it's a New York Times Best Seller, I'm hoping it will be a good book.

I'll have to get the Autobiography on my kindle app on my phone and give it a try that way.

Also, my dear hubby took me out last night. We went and had dinner at our favorite restaurant in town, Thai Pepper. It's this little mom & pop place in a strip mall that is run by two Thai grandmothers. We love the place. We figured out last night that we have been going there for almost 9 years now. The waiter knows us by name. He knows what we order and doesn't bother bringing us menus anymore. The grandmothers come over to greet us and ask how we are. If you go, try the Thai Pepper Chicken (Dad's favorite) or the Red Curry Chicken (my favorite). And tell the waiter Lec, we said hi!

Anyway, after dinner, we went over to Barnes & Noble for a little book browsing. Well, being the bibliophile that I am, and the fact that he spoils me rotten, browsing turned to buying. I got a book on Tolkien Trivia, a book on reading body language, City of Dark Magic, The Witch of Little Italy, Aunt Dimity & the Family (I LOVE this series!), The Ultimate Diet Planner, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing a Novel, & Now Write Mysteries. And all but two were on the clearance racks! Score!

I've already finished the Tolkien trivia, but I guess I'd better give that Benjamin Franklin book a go before I dive into the rest... maybe not! I'll let you know what I think!

2 Weeks Back at Work

I'm sure I'm driving everyone at work nuts with baby pictures.

I still hate leaving in the morning.

And I count the hours (and minutes) until I can come home.

And once I get home, I don't want to cook dinner. Or for that matter, eat dinner.

I just want to hold my little Cookie and cuddle her.

I want to look at my precious little girl and see her smile.

I want to talk to her and hear her coo back.

I don't want to leave in the mornings.

Her cries break my heart every time.

I hate going to sleep at night  because it's time away from her.

How does this get easier?

Multi-Tasking

There are things you can do while multitasking. And things you should not do.

For example, you can walk and talk at the same time. (Unless you are coordination challenged like I am!)

But you should not text and drive.

Read a book and nurse a baby? No sweat.

Drink and breathe? Not so much. (Hint: Your lungs don't appreciate it!)

Crochet and watch tv? Maybe. Depends on your experience level.

Play a video game & use a headset? Of course!

Read a book and take a bubble bath? No sweat!

But please, for the love of all that is holy, people, I beg you, please stop trying to talk on your cell phone, drink a pop, smoke a cigarette, and drive all at the same time!

(Also, if you are going 45 mph in the fast lane at rush hour, YOU are the problem! A school bus just passed you! Move to the slow lane! Or, better yet, get off the highway and take the side streets!)

Ok, sorry, traffic rant over.

Comparing Parenting Styles

It was suggested that I write a post about how my parenting compares to my parents since they keep my little Cookie all day, and Pookie, Mario, & Jalapeno when they get home from school.

But I really don't think that it's a fair comparison really.

We know so much more about some things now than they did then. And we have so many more gadgets to make our lives easier now.

For example, the little sling that fits in the baby bathtub to hold a newborn securely while you bath them. And we know not to put a baby to sleep on their stomach. (In their generations defense, the doctors of the time told them that was the safest way for babies to sleep. There has been so much more research done since then.)

They also did not have car seats like we do now. My parents had a car bed that I slept in. The bed fastened down, but the baby did not. Picture this without the wheels:

Regardless, my mom is up to date on all the new baby safety measures. She knows not to lay the baby on her tummy to sleep but to give her tummy time so that she has practice keeping her head up.

She knows to always, always put Cookie in her car seat and not to take her out until the car is in park, no matter how much she screams. (She does NOT like the car seat. If you have any suggestions for that, let me know!)

And Banana knows not to give her cows milk, or honey, or even baby food yet. She trusts that I'm doing what's best for Cookie and I trust she'll listen to the "new-fangled" ideas that we "young whippersnappers" have now about how to raise kids. (And, no, she doesn't really talk like that!) 

We both trust each other and that's important when we both love the kiddos so much.

101 in 1000 Days/Bucket List

A long time ago I started a 101 Things in 1000 Days Project. And then, it evolved more into a bucket list because I ended up with WAY more than 101 Things.

And most of them were not achievable in 1000 days for me because of school, work, kids, etc. For example, traveling to India, isn't really practical for me right now, or in the next 3ish years.

So, in an effort to hold myself accountable, I have decided to share some with you guys.

One of my favorites, that I intend to start as soon as it gets warm enough (which I hope will be soon, but probably not before mid March) is to "Walk to Mordor." Being the geek that I am, I've been wanting to try it since I found the website but it was way too cold and icy to walk outside and I am not going to pay to use a gym. (Since I know I'd never go!) It just seems like more trouble than it's worth to drive to a gym, change clothes, work out, shower, change clothes again, and drive home when I could just go walk outside.

Anyway so here's a few:
1) Walk to Mordor!
2) Read Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography
3) Clean and moisturize my skin once a day
4) Read 1 non-fiction book a month
5) Get a postcard from every state.

If you want to join me on these, please feel free to email me, or comment on your progress here!
You can also make your own 101 list here or you can just get ideas for things to put on your list, too!

(My first one was on paper... ok, still is, I have it in a notebook. I'm telling ya, it's huge! I love looking at other people's lists, too. Maybe that's why my list is so long, I keep seeing things on other people's lists that sound fun!)

Burps

Ok, so this post was originally going to be about difficult burpers because until a few days ago, Cookie was a very, VERY difficult burper.

My doctor showed me how to do something that I call "around the world" when Cookie was 2 weeks old. You basically sit the baby up, and rotate the babies upper body around in a circle gently. You do this a few times and then proceed to burp the baby. (Sorry for not describing it well!) Genius!

This is amazing! There were times where she would burp before I had finished two rotations! It was so amazing! (It doesn't work every time but it increased how often I was able to get her to burp by about three times!)

We haven't really needed to do this the last few days because she has suddenly decided that burping is a good thing and she does it readily.

My favorite burps are the ones that are so loud you would not believe that it came out of such a little person if you weren't the one burping her!

(My least favorite are the ones that involve massive amounts of spit up, like everyone else I expect!)

Anyway, if you have a difficult burper, give it a try! (And if you can't figure out what the heck I'm talking about, let me know & I'll try to explain it a little better or maybe post a video.)

1st Week Back at Work

Well, it was my first week back at work.

And I hated it.

Don't get me wrong, I love my employers. I love my job. I just HATED being away from my little Cookie.

My employers are great. They are more than understanding when I need to leave early to be there for my kids' parties at school or take a day off because of Cookie's two month doctor appointment.

But being away from that tiny little angelic person is tough.

I realize that's mama hormones and how we humans are programmed so that we take good care of our little ones who would never survive without us.

But it's tough. And as is typical of me, I didn't know what I had until it was gone. I now miss what used to drive me bananas: sitting at home all day. Snuggling a little person all day.

I miss being a stay at home mom, and if we won the Power Ball or Mega Millions, I'd be back at home in a heart beat.

But I got this idea the other day, while I was at work. If I'm ever in a position to own a business, everyone who has children that aren't in school all day, will be welcome to bring their kids to work. We'll have on site day care (but more like nannies) and moms who are nursing will be called by the nannies to come nurse their babies whenever the babies are hungry. Meetings can wait. Another employee can help a customer. Oh, and there will be no additional cost for the parents to leave their babies with the nannies.

That sounds like a good business plan to me. Now, what kind of business should I run?