Friday, December 26, 2014
21 Months!
My Beanie is 21 months old today - where is the time going!
She is now talking in 3 word sentences, such as, "I see you", "there it is", "I threw it" and almost always stringing words together in all her chatter. She is picking up bigger words such as, "nutcracker", "ocean", "thunder", "raindrops" all of which she says very clearly. Others such as "Santa Claus", "snowman", "dinosaur" etc are a bit more baby-speak.
She understands the concept of hers vs mine. So the past couple of weeks she has been pointedly saying "Mamma lunch/my lunch" or "Mamma kitchen/my kitchen".
She also understand the concept of "later" and "wait". So for example, I can tell her to wait at the bottom of the stairs while I run up to get something. And she will be sweetly sitting on the last step below "waiting". Of course I am gone no more than 20-30 sec at most and am usually right on the top landing so I can still see her, but its good to not have to lug her up/down or wait 10 minutes for her to meander up the strairs.
The cutest is she says "away" when she wants anyone to leave or not interfere with what she is doing. Its quite hilarious how she will motion me "away, away!".
She loves climbing on things and testing the boundaries of what she can physically do. She can now go up/down the stairs, like a grown up, holding the bannister rails.
She loves stickers that come on clothes. When we go to stores its quite a task to keep her from taking them off !!
She is getting into the "terrible tows" in that things must go her way otherwise a meltdown will happen. Activities such as getting dressed, changing diapers, getting in the car are now an endless stream of cajoling, and waiting until she is ready to do it. Often times, I do lose patience and grab her amid protests just to get the job done.
Sleep wise all I can say is that by some miracle she has been sleeping 10-12 hour straight the past week. And by that I mean, no wake up for milk, no waking up crying from a nightmare or saying "mama, mama", no peep at all! Of course I have been unable to benefit from this lucky break since I have been sick and sleeping poorly, but I am hoping its a trend!
Food wise she is getting a bit picky so not eating as well as she used to. She could like something today but not 3 days later, so its a bit difficult to judge what she will eat. I always need to have a back up dinner in mind. The past months he started having the snacks at school so I think it is helping her expand her palate and sh ewill now say "try it" when she sees something new. I gave her a french fry today for the first time and she liked it - why am I not surprised!
Overall she is growing and thriving and is a sweet loving child which is all I could possibly ask for.
I love you, darling!
BTW -- Beania weighs 28.8 lbs and is 35.5 inches tall!
Thursday, December 25, 2014
A Merry Christmas ....notwithstanding
Its been a very merry Christmas despite the fact that I have been sick since last Friday so the days leading up to the holiday where very stressful and not enjoyable to say the least.
Its no fun having to pack and deliver gifts, clean the house and shop for Christmas brunch and deal with a headstrong toddler while feeling unwell and barely being able to croak a few words without my throat hurting.
But I struggled through office work on Mon/Tue and got it all done in my few moments of feeling somewhat energetic.
Notwithstanding that whole saga.....
Christmas has been really fun this year especially with Beanie being older. She sees the presents and thinks its "happ birday" :-)
Yesterday we went to my sister's for Christmas eve dinner and opened presents from the family. It was an enjoyable evening and my sister is now interacting with Beanie a lot more - talking with her, calling her "sweetie" etc so it makes me feel a lot better about things between us. Beanie made out like a bandit and got some really fun toys and books.
Also, Beanie is getting more familiar with the family so she enjoyed herself, behaved admirably, loved playing with their "titty" (aka kitty) and was the life if the party until we left at 10:30pm. She came home and was out the moment her little head hit the pillow!! I too slept a straight 7 hours which is amazing given I have been sleeping poorly the past few days. In fact I think its the first time I slept that long in almost 2 years!!!
Today I hosted Christmas brunch. I was a bit stressed about how I would get the food cooked with Beanie around since she constantly needs my attention, but I got her busy with opening her stocking and she was occupied long enough that I could get few things done. My parents came about 30 min before the rest of the family so I could get the eggs cooked.
It was a good brunch. Everyone enjoyed the food and later we unveiled the kitchen set I had got Beanie and laboriously built over the last couple of weeks - all by myself. I am so proud of me - lol!
OMG --- she LOVED it!!
She played happily by herself for 40 minutes while we all had coffee and played scrabble!
She was busy cooking eggs (I had put some Easter eggs in a small carton of eggs), washing, putting things in/out of the microwave etc. She did not like the red apron I bought her though :-(
After everyone left she said he wanted to go up to sleep since she was "tired" and slept for almost 3 hours - so did I!
In the evening Beanie and I hung out together, listening to Christmas carols, we played with her new toys and read some new books she got. It was a lovely, warm, snuggly evening, and I felt so very blessed to have her in my life!
Hope you all had a joyful and peaceful Christmas!
Its no fun having to pack and deliver gifts, clean the house and shop for Christmas brunch and deal with a headstrong toddler while feeling unwell and barely being able to croak a few words without my throat hurting.
But I struggled through office work on Mon/Tue and got it all done in my few moments of feeling somewhat energetic.
Notwithstanding that whole saga.....
Christmas has been really fun this year especially with Beanie being older. She sees the presents and thinks its "happ birday" :-)
Yesterday we went to my sister's for Christmas eve dinner and opened presents from the family. It was an enjoyable evening and my sister is now interacting with Beanie a lot more - talking with her, calling her "sweetie" etc so it makes me feel a lot better about things between us. Beanie made out like a bandit and got some really fun toys and books.
Also, Beanie is getting more familiar with the family so she enjoyed herself, behaved admirably, loved playing with their "titty" (aka kitty) and was the life if the party until we left at 10:30pm. She came home and was out the moment her little head hit the pillow!! I too slept a straight 7 hours which is amazing given I have been sleeping poorly the past few days. In fact I think its the first time I slept that long in almost 2 years!!!
Today I hosted Christmas brunch. I was a bit stressed about how I would get the food cooked with Beanie around since she constantly needs my attention, but I got her busy with opening her stocking and she was occupied long enough that I could get few things done. My parents came about 30 min before the rest of the family so I could get the eggs cooked.
It was a good brunch. Everyone enjoyed the food and later we unveiled the kitchen set I had got Beanie and laboriously built over the last couple of weeks - all by myself. I am so proud of me - lol!
OMG --- she LOVED it!!
She played happily by herself for 40 minutes while we all had coffee and played scrabble!
She was busy cooking eggs (I had put some Easter eggs in a small carton of eggs), washing, putting things in/out of the microwave etc. She did not like the red apron I bought her though :-(
After everyone left she said he wanted to go up to sleep since she was "tired" and slept for almost 3 hours - so did I!
In the evening Beanie and I hung out together, listening to Christmas carols, we played with her new toys and read some new books she got. It was a lovely, warm, snuggly evening, and I felt so very blessed to have her in my life!
Hope you all had a joyful and peaceful Christmas!
 |
| Looking at the ornaments on Grammy's small tree! |
Friday, December 19, 2014
I should be working...but am not
I have taken a mental health day today - just playing hookey for most of the day other than a few short calls this afternoon,
One reason is I have a cold and did not sleep well last night, but the bigger reason is that ...
I.am.pissed!!!
I work for a small company which has always been struggling financially. If you recall last year, just when I was going on maternity leave there was a huge scare of layoffs. Luckily I was not laid off and earlier this year even got a promotion and small raise which was good.
Yesterday we were informed by our HR folks that the company was switching insurance AND that they had changed the company PTO (paid time off) policy so that only 40 hrs will transfer to 2015.
WTF!!!
I have 192 hrs in unpaid vacation - so basically I have lost a month or more of paid leave.
Just like that!
I am so angry especially since I took a month unpaid when Beanie was born since I wanted to save some vacation. Also the normal rule is that when you leave a company they have to pay you the unpaid PTO hrs, so that was my back up in case I got laid off.
There is nothing I can do. There is one other person in the same situation as me. What is even more unfair is that they are telling us this with only 3 working days left in the year. Our company shuts down for the holidays!
So even if I wanted to take time off I cannot!
Its unfar that we are being penalized for putting work ahead of vacation. In fact I had wanted to take the following Mon/Tue off since Beanie's school is closed, but I had a customer wanting training and I agreed since I know they were on a time crunch.
I made my displeasure known to my boss, who was very understanding.He told me that next year I can take time off when ever I like without officially doing a PTO request which I thought was nice of him.
So today I am not working.
Beanie is in school. After I finish this post I am going to watch a movie on ne.tflix and them go out to lunch by myself!
There is a ton of office and house work to do....but I am not doing any of it.
It can wait!
One reason is I have a cold and did not sleep well last night, but the bigger reason is that ...
I.am.pissed!!!
I work for a small company which has always been struggling financially. If you recall last year, just when I was going on maternity leave there was a huge scare of layoffs. Luckily I was not laid off and earlier this year even got a promotion and small raise which was good.
Yesterday we were informed by our HR folks that the company was switching insurance AND that they had changed the company PTO (paid time off) policy so that only 40 hrs will transfer to 2015.
WTF!!!
I have 192 hrs in unpaid vacation - so basically I have lost a month or more of paid leave.
Just like that!
I am so angry especially since I took a month unpaid when Beanie was born since I wanted to save some vacation. Also the normal rule is that when you leave a company they have to pay you the unpaid PTO hrs, so that was my back up in case I got laid off.
There is nothing I can do. There is one other person in the same situation as me. What is even more unfair is that they are telling us this with only 3 working days left in the year. Our company shuts down for the holidays!
So even if I wanted to take time off I cannot!
Its unfar that we are being penalized for putting work ahead of vacation. In fact I had wanted to take the following Mon/Tue off since Beanie's school is closed, but I had a customer wanting training and I agreed since I know they were on a time crunch.
I made my displeasure known to my boss, who was very understanding.He told me that next year I can take time off when ever I like without officially doing a PTO request which I thought was nice of him.
So today I am not working.
Beanie is in school. After I finish this post I am going to watch a movie on ne.tflix and them go out to lunch by myself!
There is a ton of office and house work to do....but I am not doing any of it.
It can wait!
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Random Recap
Its been a busy few weeks....not doing anything much except juggling work and single motherhood which takes a lot of time.
We had a nice Thanksgiving at my sister's place. Beanie enjoyed the "party" and loved playing with my sister's cat and her older cousins. She is getting more comfortable with them now that she is seeing them a bit and getting older so she remembers.
The last week was spent catching up with housework and things that I could not get to (eg bills) when Beanie was home from school the week of TG.
Hats off to you SMCs who work out of the house - how do you manage to get everything done, eg cleaning, laundry, shopping, cooking?! I work from home and still am running ragged at times :-)
We had a lovely weekend.
Yesterday was a rainy day and we had nothing planned, so after playing at home for a few hours, on an impulse I asked my Mom to meet us for lunch at Pan.era Bread. Beanie was so excited to "eat" out. She was a complete joy in the restaurant and ate her grilled cheese sandwich, organic yogurt and even tried and enjoyed my squash soup. We then went Christmas shopping and finally to Pet.co where she got to see many "pup-pups" and "titties" (as in kitties). We even got to pet a puppy. After a 2 hours nap (yay!) we went to my parents place where she has a blast playing with my sister's kitty - Felix. He is about 7 mos old and completely intrigued by her (and vice versa). It is so cute to see them play together.
Today we went shopping again and then to Appl.bees for lunch. Beanie behaved so well, given she had refused her mid morning snack so was quite hungry. She played with crayons and was delightful in general. I don't usually take her out much simply because restaurant food is not always the healthiest, but I am so impressed that she behaves so well and had such a good time. I don't think I am ever going to Apple.bee's though - the food was way too salty!
Tomorrow the guys are coming (supposedly) to re-work my front porch railings. They did a pretty dismal job the first time around so I am going to make sure they fix it properly!
My knee has been bothering me the past few weeks.
One morning I miscalculated a step while coming downstairs. I did not fall but stepped rather heavily on my right leg and seem to have pulled something in my knee. It seemed to get better but then about two weeks ago I went for yoga which aggravated it again. Now its fine most times except when I sit cross-legged or on my knees when it extends something which hurts. And sitting on my knees is something I do a lot of to get Beanie dressed, bathed, etc. Sigh!
Of course, Beanie wants to be carried up/down which is not helping either given she is 29lbs, so now I insist she go up.down by herself which she totally can of course - expect it takes forever since she wants to examine each step and find lint or some other "dirty" along the way!
Toddlers - you just gotta love them :-)
We had a nice Thanksgiving at my sister's place. Beanie enjoyed the "party" and loved playing with my sister's cat and her older cousins. She is getting more comfortable with them now that she is seeing them a bit and getting older so she remembers.
The last week was spent catching up with housework and things that I could not get to (eg bills) when Beanie was home from school the week of TG.
Hats off to you SMCs who work out of the house - how do you manage to get everything done, eg cleaning, laundry, shopping, cooking?! I work from home and still am running ragged at times :-)
We had a lovely weekend.
Yesterday was a rainy day and we had nothing planned, so after playing at home for a few hours, on an impulse I asked my Mom to meet us for lunch at Pan.era Bread. Beanie was so excited to "eat" out. She was a complete joy in the restaurant and ate her grilled cheese sandwich, organic yogurt and even tried and enjoyed my squash soup. We then went Christmas shopping and finally to Pet.co where she got to see many "pup-pups" and "titties" (as in kitties). We even got to pet a puppy. After a 2 hours nap (yay!) we went to my parents place where she has a blast playing with my sister's kitty - Felix. He is about 7 mos old and completely intrigued by her (and vice versa). It is so cute to see them play together.
Today we went shopping again and then to Appl.bees for lunch. Beanie behaved so well, given she had refused her mid morning snack so was quite hungry. She played with crayons and was delightful in general. I don't usually take her out much simply because restaurant food is not always the healthiest, but I am so impressed that she behaves so well and had such a good time. I don't think I am ever going to Apple.bee's though - the food was way too salty!
Tomorrow the guys are coming (supposedly) to re-work my front porch railings. They did a pretty dismal job the first time around so I am going to make sure they fix it properly!
My knee has been bothering me the past few weeks.
One morning I miscalculated a step while coming downstairs. I did not fall but stepped rather heavily on my right leg and seem to have pulled something in my knee. It seemed to get better but then about two weeks ago I went for yoga which aggravated it again. Now its fine most times except when I sit cross-legged or on my knees when it extends something which hurts. And sitting on my knees is something I do a lot of to get Beanie dressed, bathed, etc. Sigh!
Of course, Beanie wants to be carried up/down which is not helping either given she is 29lbs, so now I insist she go up.down by herself which she totally can of course - expect it takes forever since she wants to examine each step and find lint or some other "dirty" along the way!
Toddlers - you just gotta love them :-)
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