Random Thoughts and Observations (Mostly about Tamsin, but whatever)

* Tamsin has a new face she makes when she's angry - she wrinkles up her nose, closes her eyes and sticks out her lips. What's great is that if you make the face back at her, she starts laughing.

* Tamsin has finally figured out how to say the "ma" sound. Except she uses it when she's whining. I now know what my future holds when she wants something and can say "Mama" over and over in a whiny tone.

* I'm beginning to wonder if Tamsin will eat better if I just put her food on the floor instead of on her highchair tray. It seems likes anything on the floor is fair game for going in her mouth, but if it's on her tray, it should be ignored.

* I saw a sign on my way into work today that said something about "This project is paid for by whatever the name of the stimulus bill is." I'm all for putting Americans to work and getting the roads cleaned up and all of that, but not on my commute, please. I really don't need a construction zone on my way to work every morning.

* Tamsin is a climber. She can't really walk yet, but the kid can climb:

My Kid is Brilliant

Tamsin knows how to wave "bye-bye." I'm irrationally proud of her for it. And a little bit sad, too. My baby is all grown up.

A Litany of Stories for Your Enjoyment

Baby Stories
So, I think Tamsin is the coolest, funniest kid in the world.* She cracks me up every. single. day. She loves giving (and receiving) raspberries. I get them on my neck, chest and wrist (doesn't work so well). Saturday morning, the oven door was getting raspberries.

*I honestly wonder if all babies are this funny, or if mine is particularly amusing. I tend to think she's particularly amusing, but maybe I just haven't been around other babies enough.

Yesterday, Tamsin was happily pulling things out of the diaper bag.* She found the extra pacifier we keep in it. She promptly spit out the pacifier in her mouth and replaced it with the pacifier she had just found. Then she saw the first pacifier sitting in front of her on the floor, promptly spit out the new pacifier and put the first one back in. Once again, she saw the new pacifier sitting on the floor, spit out the first one and replaced it with the new one. Rinse and repeat for about 4 or 5 changes. She continued to do this throughout the day whenever she came across a new pacifier while playing.** I may have even teased her with 3 pacifiers while putting her to bed.

*The diaper bag is fantastic treasure trove of toys, diapers, mommy's wallet and a million other things to discover and put in her mouth.

**I will get the endless pacifier exchange on tape. So far, whenever I try, she loses interest in the pacifiers and wants to grab the camera. Somehow, though, the video proof of her silliness will be obtained.

Stories of an Awesome Person
I just want to give kudos to the man who manages/owns my office building. He is seriously one of the nicest people I have ever met. His name is Dave and he will probably never read this blog. Every September, he has a Tenant Appreciation Luncheon for every person who works in the building. He brings in a band and has absolutely fantastic food for everyone. Each Monday morning, he provides fruit and donuts for the building. On the Monday before Christmas, he'll have quiche and sausage and I don't even know what else - just a lot of really yummy breakfast foods.

He calls me by name, even though we don't interact very often. One time in early January, I saw him in the hall when I was particularly frustrated about Tamsin being sick and mentioned it to him. Since that day, he asks how my baby is doing every time he sees me. Another time, he was having the bathrooms painted and I asked about the color, because I thought it would work in my house with our new floors. Rather than just tell me the name and brand, he actually gave me a partial can of paint so I could test it in the house. I'm telling you, this man is truly, honestly, genuinely just nice.

Brought to you by about 4 hours of non-consecutive sleep

Four Eyes, Four Eyes
This ad from Facebook totally freaks me out. I hate it.














Walk, Don't Run
Well, it's not really running. It's not exactly walking yet, either. But, I've just about decided Tamsin is not going to crawl. She scoots around really well and she'll get up on her knees to rock a bit, but then drop down to move. She can get from point A to point B pretty quickly on her belly and elbows. Usually, Point A is where I've put her down with some little toys and Point B is a piece of furniture (or a large toy, or the stove, or the baby gate, anything with a little bit of height) she can use to pull up to standing. She's been able to pull up to standing for 2.5 months. But she still has a hard time getting into a sitting position by herself. Kid just doesn't do anything the way you expect her to do it.

Why aren't you listening to me?
Tamsin sleeps in a pack-n-play in our room for much of the night. I'm too lazy to go to her room just to give her a pacifier in the middle of the night. Anyway, yesterday she woke up a little bit earlier than usual - or maybe just earlier than I wanted to get out of bed. So she pulled up to standing (while I scooted to the center of the bed so she couldn't grab my face or hair). Then I hear, "eh." We ignored it. Then, "Eh" a little more emphatically. Still ignored it. "EH! EH!" Guess I need to pay attention to her at that point, huh?

Whining
Tamsin had a lot of colds during her first 6 months - averaging one a month up to about 4 months and then one cold after another for almost 6 weeks. Then she had her 6-month well child visit. In the 2.5 months since then, she's had rotovirus, strep (what 6.5 month old gets strep?) and RSV with pneumonia. Oh, and ear infections. I'd gladly go back to the colds at this point.