Be A Good Mom

Giggles has changed alot in the past few days. She is now grabbing toys and putting them in her mouth. Her aim is not perfect, but she is usually happy with the results.

So far, she can’t handle “heavy” toys and can really only do this trick with the light Link-a-doo rings. We are working on her holding onto her bottles too. Pookie and Geetle learned to hold their own bottles by 6months, so we hope the same for her. I was VERY motivated to teach Geetle and Pookie, since its hard to bottle feed twins at the same time. But its a good skill for any baby! We use the AVENT bottles with the handles. They are sold for the AVENT Magic Trainer cups, but they also fit on the bottles. So far, she can’t hold the bottle, because she gets excited and pulls the bottle down towards her chest. But, we will keep practicing.

This is a fun stage because its the first time it seems like she is actually playing with her toys. She seems really interested in holding the rings and cries when they drop. She also likes to grab her soft pink bunny and pull it into her chin…probably an attempt to eat it, but one that does not work because she does not like the sensation of sucking on fabric.

Tips from Good Housekeeping, circa 1955

Dinner ready when he gets home? - No. He made dinner tonite. I went to the gym.

Freshlooking when he gets home? - No. But I did wear a real bra today.

Provide a lift to his boring day? - Yes. Today I made him laugh when I asked him what “Screw the Pooch” meant.

Clear away the clutter? - No. Its his and his monkey-children’s clutter. Not mine.

Run a dustcloth over the table? - Yes, at 4pm. But it was to clean off the 7am spilled yogurt.

Light a fire? - No. Its best if I don’t touch the fire place.

Prepare the children? - oh, his “little treasures” are always ready and prepared…if you can catch them.

Be happy to see him? - Yes and No. He works in the basement. You gotta leave before you can come back.

Warm smile? - check.

Listen to his more important topics of conversation? - Yes. I listened to no less than 3 internet “get-rich-quick schemes” today alone.

Never complain if he stays out late? - Yes. I’m asleep, how would I complain?

Make the home a place of peace and tranquility? - Yes, between 8 and 10pm every night its pretty tranquil.

Have a warm or cool drink ready for him? - No. Its best if I don’t touch the coffee pot.

Arrange his pillow and take off his shoes? - No. But I do throw his boots out the garage door if he forgets to put them away and leaves them on the mat. Does that count?

Speak in a low, soothing, pleasant voice? - You’ve read my blog, what do you think?

Don’t question his judgement or integrity? - I can’t help it if my eyebrows raise on their own.

Know my place? - I know it…and its not 1955!

I love Good Will. More precisely, I love junk. Good Will is actually a bit upscale for my tastes. I don’t buy alot of it, but I like to look. A good flea market or junk shop is like a behind the scenes tour of the world’s oddest museum, except you can touch things. I Stumbled Upon this link today, www.thriftstoreart.com. In his collection, this webcurator chronicles a diverse collection of original artwork found at thift stores. In the true spirit of a museum, each piece is analyzed and catalogued, with comments on the style and subject. My favorite is “Perplexed” by Tim Ryan 6/1/1960.

Stop over and view the galleries. These are not second rate paint-by-numbers. Most are quite good. Sure, some of the themes are odd and some lack the polish and confident strokes of a “true” artist, but they are good nonetheless.

A few pictures for the family. Giggles in the tub:

Prisons.

She told me she is drawing prisons.

With a comically-large green pencil, she is drawing prisons.

On impulse, before I knew BAGD bought me a kick-ass sewing machine for Valentines Day, I picked up a book called First-Time Quiltmaking. It was on clearance and I thought I might hack around a bit with quilting. I had made this baby quilt from a kit I bought at Jo-Ann Fabrics.

I was pretty happy with it, but it was a kit and I wanted to make a “real” one someday. So, I bought the book. Then I went to Hancock Fabrics with Geetle to get fabric for my new dining room curtains (Mamaw makes them for me…thanks Mamaw!). While we were there, Geetle talked me into a yard of Ronald McDonald fabric for her, a yard of Iowa Hawkeyes fabric for BAGD and a yard of Little Einsteins for Pookie. I was supposed to make pillow cases, she said. Those are very easy, so I agreed. Well, then I got my Valentine’s present and I decided to jump into quilting. With BAGD’s yard of Hawkeye fabric and a little bit more, I made this:

Where the blocks line up, my corners are not perfectly straight, so rather than doing a “stitch in the ditch” I used a cardboard template to draw an “I” in the center of each yellow block and quilted those. It was hard, especially the binding. But I did it all by myself and I am happy. Its only about 3×3 so its a good size for Giggles. This is called a Double Patch pattern.

Next is the pirate quilt, it will be a single patch quilt with a border, lesson 4 in the book. My last one will be a 3 Rail Quilt. They’re all baby sized. I hope Giggles wants that many quilts. She barely wears the 23 hats I knitted her.

Here she is, as we set her in the saucer:

She looks nervous, doesn’t she? Did she like it? Continue reading to find out what she really thought of the new experience.

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Never let my kids convince you the they had a rough childhood. They have it pretty good.

Reminds me of the time Uncle JB and I ate popcorn with so much butter on it….we had to use spoons to fish the last kernels out of the wet buttery goodness at the bottom of the bowl.

This last Sunday, I spent the day with Geetle and Giggles.   The day before, I had taken Pookie to sign language Chat, so Geetle was anxious for her turn at a day of fun.  So, on Sunday, I took her and Giggles out for the day. 

We started at Jo-Ann Fabric where she helped me pick out fabric for my second quilt.  It will be a pirate quilt.  I am not as excited as Geetle, but it will be fine.  Then we drove to the mall for an appointment at Picture People.  It was a very rainy day, with lots of water on the pavement.  Everytime we splashed thru a puddle, we yelled “Free Car Wash!” 

At the mall, she and Giggles got their picture taken, which she loved.  She got a new pair of jeans at Sears.  Then we went to Wal-Mart so she could pick out a new blanket for her bed; its Tinkerbell.  Then we made one last stop at Target to get a blanket for Pookie. 

She had a great time.  She fussed over Giggles, moving her booster seat so that she could sit next to Giggles’ carseat.  At every stop light she told me whether Giggles was awake or asleep.  She chanted “poopie, poopie, poopie” during the picture, trying to get Giggles to smile.  When I asked her what kind of fabric we should get for the quilt, she said “How about Heathcliff.  My brother likes Heathcliff.”  Once I explained that they probably did not have fabric depicting a second rate cartoon cat from the 1980’s, she decided on pirates. 

Just before we left Target, our last stop, she asked if she could buy BAGD some flowers.  I said no, but maybe he would like something else.  She picked him out a pair of boxer shorts with hearts all over them, from the half-price Valentines aisle.  Then she found a red and purple monkey for Pookie.  She bought them both and was very happy. 

I don’t agree with offensive jokes.  But if you are going to make one…at least make one that makes sense.  Did anyone see the full context of the “retard” comment made by the contestant on “Big Brother?”  I read about it on MSNBC, but I don’t get it.   A hair salon for people with Autism? 

Pookie has autism.  Pookie also has very nice hair.  He does not particularly like getting it cut, but he tolerates it.  We did it last Saturday, in fact.  When I say he “tolerates” it, I mean that he thinks it tickles and he scrunches up his shoulders.   Wow.  Pretty erratic behavior for a 5 year old.  Is this guy saying that people with developmental disabilities often do not like the sensation of getting their hair cut and therefore don’t do it and, as a result, look messy and unkempt?  Its not an obvious connection.   In the engineering of building a joke, its got a poor foundation. 

What was he talking about?  What does a hair salon have to do with it?  The  fact that he makes such a poor joke really diffuses the situation for me.   I am less offended by his “retard” comment  because I pity him.  He is not so funny…and not so smart.  Maybe there is a special hair salon for that.