Craft Store Laughs

I saw this the other day in our local craft store and laughed out loud. I couldn't help myself...I just had to grab my camera out of the diaper bag and snap a photo. Apparently Christianity has experienced a decrease in popularity!

The Hills Are Alive...

This is Freyja's little vintage German girl dress. I absolutely love it, and when I see it I think of little girls with head scarves collecting flowers in a basket while strolling in a meadow somewhere a la Heidi, singing Von Trapp children, and little boys in lederhosen. When she wore it last all the little old ladies thought she was just adorable. Unfortunately, she wasn't being very adorable when I was trying to take her picture in it. She was frowning at me, making unpleasant faces, and furiously rubbing her eyes. This one is the happiest of all the shots I took. Apparently my desire to take photos wasn't nearly as pressing as her need to take a nap. Oh well, maybe next time...

Freyja Update

Freyja is growing up to be quite the little lady. She turned 14 months old on the 8th, and I just can't believe it's already been that long! I thought I'd give a little update on what's happening in her little world.

Shortly after her 1st birthday, she finally started to crawl, which I honestly thought she was going to skip completely. A week later, she started pulling up to stand, and then only a few days after that, she was cruising around the room, holding on to the furniture. Now she can walk by herself while holding your hand, or move across the room alone, standing behind her walker. I'm sure it won't be any time at all before she's walking all by herself, but who knows? These things take time...

We've also moved completely to table foods, cut into small pieces. This was a development that took place while we were on vacation in Virginia with Heidi. Freyja really is a good eater, and so far has eaten whatever I've given her without a fuss and with a lot of interest and "mmmmm!" sounds. The only food she seems to have an issue with right now is pineapple, but I'm still working on it. Ha!

Freyja cut her fifth tooth (this one is on the bottom) at the beginning of the month, and it looks like there's another one making it's way to the surface on the top!

Right now she also seems to be mastering some serious language skills. There are still just a few words she says...mama, baba, cat, hat, duck, hot, on, off, hi...but there are so many more that I can see she understands. I'll be saying a word during the course of a conversation, or I'll ask her where something is, and she'll point right to it. It's awesome! This applies to nose, ear, lips, teeth, foot, toes, belly button, hair, cat, dog, horse, duck, mama, grandma, grandpa, baba, shoe, sock, dress, hat, and diaper, just to name a few. She makes puppy panting noises when she sees a dog. She waves "hi" and "bye". She shakes her finger at you when you say "no". She claps and plays patty cake. It's so cute. It's amazing to watch her learn these things...

She loves to play with every toy she has, but right now she's particularly into her stacking rings and her shape sorting box. For a long time she could get the rings off (well, basically since she first used it at 6 months), but now she can skillfully place them back on the rod and put the shapes right into the hole. Amazing stuff. She also really likes music, and dances around while seated and standing when she hears some. She's even starting to "sing" a bit. Well, it's more like random melodic yelling, but you know what I mean!

What can I say? I love her bunches, and it's just been so great to see her grow and change. There is just so much I could mention, but I think this gives a good picture of what's been happening with the little one.

A Picture From the Past

I love this photo.

It was taken about a month after I moved to Minneapolis, in the Fall of 2003. I had just finished up my graduate coursework in Chicago and had decided to take a leap of faith and move up north because I was in love. I had only been to Minneapolis (and the state of Minnesota, for that matter) twice, and had no way of knowing if things would truly work out. What I did know was that if I didn't find out, I was sure I would regret it.

Well, things didn't work out exactly the way I had hoped. The person I planned to be with didn't turn out to be the right one for me, and after a few months I ended up on my own with a broken heart in a place that was pretty foreign, and quite lonely for me. But, after I learned to embrace my life as a single woman, I really enjoyed where I was. I began to see the city I lived in as my home, and not just a place I temporarily lived in as a student. I fell in love with Minneapolis and all the things I discovered about it. There were so many places to go and things to do. I made a point of exploring and setting up comfortable routines in this place I'd found myself living. I made it "mine." During my time there, I worked some interesting jobs, met some unforgettable people, and turned this city, which began as just a random place to begin a dream, into my personal paradise. But, most of all, I learned a lot about myself.

This photo reminds me that it's important to take chances. We might not know exactly what lies ahead, but if we always take the safe route, we might just be missing out on some beautiful and unexptected things.

I think I found it at just the right time. As I embrace my life as a single mother and figure out what lies ahead for the two of us, I need to remember to take take a slow, steady breath and take a leap or two sometimes. All I can hope is that I've learned enough along the way to make it with a bit more wisdom.