A reminder to my self

This was originally posted on Look Ma! No Hands!  A blog I share with a friend of mine. I need to post there more frequently, come to think of it...

 

Matthew McConaughey is My Power Animal

I have an itchy trigger finger when it comes to my emotional outbursts over injustice, contempt, and anger. I get this from my mother. We are both Sagittarius if you put any stock in that Zodiac business. We do — but only when it suits us.

Frequently my mom will call me, like today, simmering and just about ready to boil over about some perceived atrocity that has befallen her. I often call her in a similar state.

I’ve decided lately that this is no way to live and so I tried to talk her down. She kept saying her favorite saying, “I’m just going to be like water.” This of course is a total bastardization of the old proverb (or maybe Bruce Lee said it according to this website) that water doesn’t fight obstacles, it instead goes around them, over them, just wearing those obstacles to nothing and doesn’t let obstacles get it its way. This is great if you are a normal person or maybe Bruce Lee.

However, when we are “like water” my mom and I are really angry, indignant water. It’s not a calming motto or a way of being for my mom and I. Instead, it’s a passive way of dealing with something. Which really isn’t dealing with it at all.

So today I told her, “Don’t be like water. Don’t get all stone-faced and not say anything. This is not the way to be. You need to be like Matthew McConaughey.” And in that moment, I knew I was right.

What would Matthew McConaughey do? Maybe not the real MM, but the MM that lives in our perception. MM would just takes the news, shrug his shoulders, look out at the waves — gives his toes a little wiggle in the sand maybe, and then just say, “Cool. I’ll be over there,” and he’d point to a spot on the beach. “You let me know when you work that out.” And then he’d saunter off (I imagine MM saunters without attitude) to check out a Frisbee game.


This isn’t to say MM doesn’t know when to take a stand. He’s been embroiled in a few legal battles over paparazzi, he has been arrested for “resisting transportation” during the infamous nude-bongo-weed incident, and he’s involved in a lot of charity work, according to his official website.

In fact, he originally went to school to be a lawyer. So it isn’t that he isn’t into justice, a moron, or just wandering around in some catatonic state (well, maybe he is sometimes as he is known to enjoy a little weed here and there), but rather I imagine MM knows when to get cranked up and when to just shrug his shoulders, smile, and see how the waves are doing while everyone else sorts out their shit.
And that is why being like water is bullshit.

Be like McConaughey. Just. Keep. Living.

Hello, friends!

Shirley and Ada read a book.

I know I haven't posted in a while because we've been very, very boring at our house so there hasn't been much to report.

Ada isn't yet crawling, though she seems so close we think it could be any day. She can get up on hands and knees and hold it there. She can even get a hand and knee forward just a smidge and she does the telltale rocking back and forth, but so far, no actual mobility. I used to be happy about this, but she's so frustrated and angry about it not working that I just want her to get on with it. I know, I know ... all in due time...

Still no teeth! She has these little gum bumps that are for sure going to be teeth entry points and she is frequently uncomfortable in a way that suggests teething, but so far, no nippers have made an appearance. Hasn't stopped her from enjoying some new foods ... ice cream, mac and cheese, banana lumps vs. mash, she really seems to enjoy potato soup, and yesterday she had a bit of yogurt.

I guess there is one thing to report on, but since we don't photo it I never posted much more about it. She's sleeping through the night. I mentioned last time that after her checkup with the pediatrician, he and I discussed it and he talked me into trying the Crying It Out (CIO) method. I had been so turned off of this idea because every parent I talked to about it acted like it was successful discipline of the child. It always came out harsh and combative and I've never felt that way towards Ada and didn't want to start. Luckily for us, Ada really did just want to be left alone it seems.  It has been about two weeks now, and she hasn't put up much of a fight and although we still hear her (actually just me ... Jeffrey has gone back to his dead man sleep habits) whimpering and cooing in her bed occasionally, it never has become the pained hysterics I was fearing. In fact, for a bit there before we did the CIO, we'd pop into her room when we'd hear her, and rather than easily going back to sleep, she'd start wailing. I think we were disturbing her more than we thought. The CIO hasn't proved to be much of a CIO but rather a "stop worrying and just let me be I can do it myself" method. We also didn't lose our easy bedtime -- I had feared that she would start having trouble going to sleep at night if we did CIO -- something that we were really pleased to have so easy -- and that fear was needless. She still curls up with her blanket and goes to sleep in her crib, almost gratefully, every night.

Update: since I wrote that sentence, she has started bawling when we put her to bed. I'm hoping it's the cold and that when her sinuses are clear, we go back to easy bed times. Or maybe that ship has now sailed. Damn.

Another thing she has started to do is play to the camera. She can be crying, tired, or playing with great focus but the second she hears the camera turn on, she perks up, and the moment the focus light comes on, she starts grinning. We'll try to get video of this soon ... once Ada and I get over our colds and our noses are less red...

So that's about it. Shirley came to visit after Christmas and she and Ada had a great time playing together. In true Grandparent Gautreaux style, Shirley kept her entertained beyond tiredness and Ada would nearly collapse into her crib for naps. Shirley and Terry should consider a post-retirement careers as audience hype men.

Six Month Review!

Ada's six-month anniversary was actually last week, but since her checkup wasn't until today, I held off on reporting since I didn't have any stats.

Now I do.

Weight: 18.4 pounds. We were convinced it was more like 30... 18 seems much more reasonable sounding.


Height: 25.75 in. Her pants are all becoming capris.


Head circumference: 43.2 cm. Um, yay? I never know what this stuff means.

To sum up: She's awesome.

It is hard for me to believe it has been half a year already. From not fitting into her smallest onesies in the beginning to sitting next to me right now as I type this (playing with blocks and trying to figure out how to hit the switch on the bouncer for music), I'm amazed at how she has grown.

Her skill sets are adding up nicely -- she has great core strength, excellent hand/eye coordination, she likes to feed herself, she is rolling around to destinations she can't crawl to (yet!), and can sit for a really long time and entertain herself with toys. She's also a scoundrel. Her little walker has enabled her to zoom around the house getting into trouble. Today she found she could get across the carpet and twang the doorstop, much to her delight. There are videos of her strutting around the house on www.youtube.com/AZGautreaux but it doesn't do it justice. You'll just have to come visit us and see!

She also is developing her palate: bananas, sweet potato, avocado, peas, carrots, regular potatoes, vanilla ice cream, saltines, graham crackers, pizza crust, and apples. She did not care for pears.

What she doesn't know is that tonight we start the "crying it out" phase of Project Ada Sleeping. She's not going to like it. Our pediatrician assures us it will make for a happier baby. I don't know. The baby in these pictures looks mighty happy to me ... and she woke up four times last night with demands.

A few more Christmas weekend moments

Lily (the little one) got a new sweater for Christmas. Not to be outdone, Lucy pulled out the argyle. They both also received new collars -- light blue leather with rhinestone flowers -- but they are not pictured here.

Because nothing says happy days like Jeffrey holding the cutest Ada in the world. My mom made the hat and it is now a new favorite!

Ada gives a taste test to "Paulie" the polar bear, a gift from Katie and Elliott. That's an ADA-approved bear!

On the day after Christmas, we went on a short drive out of town to see some beauty. We found some!

Ada's First Christmas!

Ada's first Christmas pile is not small for a 6-month-old! As every package was unwrapped, each gift was given a little mouth time in appreciation. Thank you to everyone who sent her a little something! This kid sure is lucky to have such excellent gift givers in her life!

We videoed the event, and I'm going to put it up on the YouTube channel as soon as it is done processing.

Merry Christmas!

Lunch with Ada

Look! Hair!

That's avocado in there. She loves it!

Side view of hairs.

Snow and other updates!

It is cold in Prescott. On Friday of last week, it started to snow. Then it stopped. Then it started again. It was getting mighty wintery out. Saturday, it kept snowing. The term "driving snow" could be used to describe what was going on during the annual Prescott Christmas parade -- those poor marching band kids must have been freezing.

Last year at this time, Jeffrey and I were in Phoenix and our hilarious idea for a Christmas card was us getting a tan in our backyard under the grapefruits. This is us this year. We're too cold to contemplate Christmas cards. Maybe next year.

There is still snow on the ground a week later -- and icy patches in the shade. Ada's first Christmas might be a white one.

This weekend we're going to get our tree and do some Christmas decorating. I'm also planning to find a Santa and foist the baby at him for some pictures. If he gets away with his beard intact, we'll consider it a success (she's a little grabby!)

In more Ada news, she's getting pretty sturdy. She isn't a large baby, but she's getting to be quite the chunk. She's been enjoying trying out new foods -- they aren't really sustaining her nutritionally, they are just experiential at this point -- and her favorites are carrots, peas and sweet potatoes. She likes to drive the spoon into her mouth, though she is still working on gauging depth.

She's also still not sleeping through the night. She goes down easily but we get to hang out with her frequently throughout the night. Jeffrey is now having to pitch in a bit so I don't get all "Fight Club" from sleep deprivation.

Other actually fun things she's doing include using her walker with near proficiency to chase the dogs and I suspect we'll have some crawling in the next few weeks. She needs just a little more arm strength and I think she'll be off. She can get a knee under, but it topples her onto her face. She doesn't seem to enjoy that.

She'll be 6-months-old on December 22, which I find astounding. For me, this has been the quickest feeling six months of my life.