Resolutions and the week's news

I'm well aware that resolutions are made only to be broken. But Steve and I already kept the only one we made for the new year (to cancel our gym memberships) so I'm going to make another one. And it is....*drum roll*...to blog once a week and recap what we did! I know, I know, almost too exciting to bear. Expect reports of loads of laundry completed (this seems to have been inherited from my gram; every letter I ever got from her has a record of the number of loads hung out), whining about school work postponed, and the usual antics of a baby. You can also expect that I'll abandon this in a week or so since that's what you do with resolutions =D

So, let's see what happened this past week:

Monday: Steve's mother and baby brother were visiting us, so Henri was getting lots of attention. The weekend really messes with nap schedules though, so when they all left for the International Auto Show, I stayed home with her to force the nap issue. Also, to complete a major project due that evening. It worked out well. I know I would have gotten whiny walking around an expo center looking at cars, Henri would have been all over the place wanting to crawl, and being home allowed us some quiet cuddle time as well as a good nap on her part. I also got a ton done and it sounds like the family had a blast at the show; I'm a bit jealous they got to drive Jeeps...A brisk walk in the afternoon cleared my head and got Henri her second nap for the day and then after supper they all cleared out to BerryLine so I could do my presentation. Listening to the recording of it, I apparently haven't lost my habit of talking too fast. The instructor was gracious, no one asked penetrating questions, and my semester has started with a 100% average. To complete the evening, S brought me back an Oreo frozen yogurt with strawberries.

Tuesday: S had to work so we all just kind of hung out at home with the "what do you want to do?" "I don't care, what do you want to do?". Rather thrillingly, I find that I share a love of Price is Right with Mom S, so we watched and cheered (Henri waves to the Big Wheel). I dragged them on a walk to TJ's in the afternoon once the snow had melted. Forgot that snow melt = wet puddles so there was a lot of skirting and soaked hems, but the temperature was great and Henri again got her afternoon nap. An early pick-up of S at work and then on to the mall where I used a gift card to purchase lip gloss (so frivolous and so fun!) and ate supper at Chik-fil-A. Not a Southerner, don't understand the appeal.

Flower from Guam made of some sort of plant material

Starting to share!

Wednesday: Family left in the morning =( Henri wandered around looking for them the rest of the day and was very disappointed when she got up from her naps and there was no one around. Slightly assuaging the pain was the mountain of laundry I completed (see? told you I'd talk about it!) and she had a wonderful time rolling in it and resorting my whites and darks for me. Church that evening. I dressed her in her new outfit from Aunt Melanie (jeggings with side buttons, pink shirt and frilly puffy vest) because what is church to babies except a chance to show off their adorable outfits?



Notice there are 6 (SIX) buttons here?


I mention this because of:

Thursday: Steve's no more on the bus than I realize, while making breakfast, that H has something in her mouth. Being we're in the kitchen, I'm not too worried cause she leaves puffs on the floor to snack on later (notice I didn't resolve to improve my housecleaning this year. WAY too unrealistic). I finished stirring the Cream of Wheat, put it aside, and saw ONLY FIVE BUTTONS on her pants. Yup, she'd pulled one off. And by the look on her face, swallowed it. I searched everywhere. She'd only had on the pants for maybe 15 minutes and her sphere of travel had been limited. I'd heard her playing with the buttons but assumed they were on tight because I'd checked them the previous night before putting them on. Very long story short, after multiple calls to the MD and nurse on call at her pediatricians office, I got sent to the ER for x-rays and evaluation. We went to Cambridge Hospital because it feels like a second home after all the time I've spent there in the past year. As I've come to expect, the service was prompt, kind and non-judgemental. Apparently every one's child has swallowed something (sorta like last Thursday when everyone has locked their child in the car at some point. You can refer to Facebook for that story. Thursdays are cursed). H was really really good until the last few minutes when we were way past nap time, but even then there was no major melt down. She let them examine her, she charmed everyone (of course the whole staff had to come by to see her) and they found nothing in the x-ray. So, either it's still lurking around the house ready to be swallowed at a later date, or it was of a material that doesn't show up on x-ray. Either way, S has put me on sole diaper duty for the next 72 hours. Most frustrating part of the day? The pediatrician calling me while I was waiting for the results to tell me he could make an x-ray appt for me. The nurse specifically said I couldn't do that when I asked!!!!! So instead of a free (and quick) lab visit, I had a 3-hour, $100 co-pay 1st-time-mom freakout moment. Not to mention the $7 in parking....
H was fine the rest of the day, took great naps and behaved well grocery shopping. Now that I let her sit up front in the shopping cart (after disinfecting the whole thing with baby wipes and hand sanitizer) she really enjoys our shopping adventures. Evening finished off with (good) pizza with friends and brownies a la mode.

Friday: Hopefully a quiet day. Lots of schoolwork to complete as I have an exam in Women's Health and many pages of reading to complete before then. After much protesting Henri is napping. It snowed last night and it's still on the walkways so I think I'll get to bust out the new boots S got me for my birthday when we take our afternoon amble. I attempted some photos of H this morning but she's decided the camera is a toy for her and throws fits if she's not getting to suck on the strap/watch playback of all the photos. It's hard to get shots of her when she insists on being behind the lens.

She's only supposed to have one wooden and one soft toy. As you can see, our next purchase is going to have to be a toy shelving unit. At least they're all "educational" =D

Cruising along

She's spotted the camera and is headed in to take possession

Random recaps: I'm not sure when all of these happened, but moments that stand out from the week
-H's first word is officially "Bob" (she babbles mama and daddy but only says Bob when we're reading 15 Animals by Sandra Boynton or singing the song so I guess that means she's associating word with objects. Sad she's fixated on a name-challenged pet owner, but it's still a proud moment)
-finding adorable valentine's cards for S
-our first library trip where H was given a new book
-becoming intrigued by the coupon lifestyle and hoping that the circulars I signed up for actually come
-buying a coupon organizer (small, with enclosed notepad)
-loving my 1 cup of coffee in the morning with peppermint mocha creamer
-constantly resetting the TV as H is pretty good at pushing buttons
-being very impressed with the rapid progress of H's walking skills. I'm in no rush for her to take off, but her balance is amazing compared with just last week and she's standing unassisted for longer and longer periods of time.

Along with keeping folks fed and the house in a reasonable state of liveability, I'd say it's been a typical week =D See you all next week with a recap!