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.

Just a Bit OCD

Let me first say that I'm in no way making a value judgment about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and whether it is or isn't a legitimate problem that some people suffer from. But, I do think that everyone has a few items that might go on their own personal OCD list. I know I have a few.

For a while I've been obsessing about the formatting of this blog. I like the last template I used. It had colors I enjoyed and the layout was nice, but it had a little style problem that drove me up the wall. For some reason, there was no space or dividing line between each post, and it made everything run together and look totally haphazzard. Every time I looked at my blog it made me crazy. So, I switched back to my original template.

Do I need help? Maybe. But at least my blog looks better, at least to me.

The First 1000 Days

I just bought this journal, which I love. I've been looking at it over and over online and considering purchasing it for about a year, and I'm so glad I finally did. It has absolutely beautiful woodcut images of mothers and babies throughout the pages, and prompts to inspire writing about the first couple of years and experiences of your child's life. Although I know it's going to be challenging to look back, especially at the earliest months, and recall some things, I think it will be a great experience to re-live some of those moments again and capture them in writing for Freyja to read someday...

I already began the journaling process today, and put down many of the details of Freyja's birth.

It brought back some wonderful memories and overwhelming emotions...

Perhaps, as I go, I'll share some of those memories here. Or, maybe I'll just keep them for myself. We'll have to see...

A Great Trip

Freyja and I are back from our awesome vacation with best friend/aunt Heidi, which was fun and action-packed.

We've been doing this little summer visit every year since 2002, with other random visits in between, which means that since Heidi graduated from Beloit in 2000, we've had a chance to see each other at least twice a year, which is so awesome.

It's hard to recall all the individual times, but there have been many. We went back-packing in France and Holland before I studied in Italy in 1999, we met up in Beloit for homecomings and reunions at least three times, and we also saw each other at a mutual friends wedding. She came to visit me in Chicago, and I went to visit her in Williamsburg, VA three times. These are just a few of the trips I can remember off-hand. This past year I saw Heidi four times! I went to visit her, and then two months later she came to visit me in Kansas and helped me move back to Illinois. A month later she came to visit me again for my baby shower, and then she came again when Freyja was two months old!

I should really post some pictures from some of our previous visits!

But, back to this year's trip. I'm struggling to determine what I should mention first, because there's just so much to say.

Despite some of the usual airline insanity, the trip to VA wasn't too bad. Freyja did quite well, with only one minor melt-down on each of the two flights. It had nothing to do with the air travel, which I think she actually enjoyed, and everything to do with the effects of feeding her some spinach the evening before, which I don't think made her feel too well. This food apparently goes on the "only in tiny quantities" list. Ha! Of course, I just wouldn't be your typical mom if I didn't take the obligatory "first time on an airplane" photos, would I? She looks so cute, immersed in her reading!

The first couple of days on our visit were filled with cooking (one night we had hand-made pasta and meatballs, which was super fun...and another night we had Heidi's rockin' risotto, which I love), swimming at the pool, shopping, watching movies, and just general hanging out. Some highlights for Freyja were the crazy new pool float, sleeping in a much bigger and softer bed, playing with Heidi and Justin's much bigger cats, taking baths in the sink, and making big messes (um, I mean...exploring the new house). Yes, Freyja is wearing her swimsuit bottoms on her head in the last photo. Why? Because it's hilarious.


One night we also ate at the restaurant that's Heidi's really nice friend Herb manages. The food was wonderful, and Heidi ordered a hilarious drink, the "Shady Lady", which makes me laugh every time I think of it. I suppose it goes back to some fond memories of college...or something. Ha!

The three of us headed off to the outer banks of North Carolina when Freyja and I were five days into our trip. We stayed in the little town of Avon on Hatteras Island for three nights, went to the beach, and saw the beautiful Cape Hatteras lighthouse, which was really cool to me because I've never seen a lighthouse up close!

Freyja really seemed to enjoy her first time at the beach. She played in the sand (every square inch of her body was absolutely covered in it by the time we left the beach each day!), and I held her in my arms or in my lap and let her feel the tide wash over her legs. I could tell that she was awe-struck by the ocean and the rush of the tide every time she watched or felt it come in. The waves were pretty strong (there were quite a few surfers out there), and it seemed to scare her when I walked her out in the ocean so that the water was waist high, so we just played it safe and stayed back at the edge of the surf.

It was interesting being at the beach with a baby! I spent a lot of time lathering her skin with sunblock because she's just so fair, putting her hat back on after she'd thrown it off, trying to convince her that putting sand in her mouth was not the best idea, keeping her from jamming shells into her mouth, etc. But, it was actually pretty hilarious. Walking on the beach was also more of an effort with a toddler at the hip, but having my sling with me was a life-saver. Freyja slept in it the whole time Heidi and I combed the sand for shells...

We only had two major shenanigans while at the beach.

The first one began with Heidi telling me that she'd driven her four-wheel-drive car on the beach the last time she'd been to the outer banks...and it was really cool...so we should do it again...and ended in us being dragged off the beach by a nice man with a tow-truck. Yay! I guess we won't be doing that next year. I think we both wish we'd taken a picture of that...

The second one involved Freyja smashing her face into the scratchy carpet at the hotel on the first night, which explains the big red strawberry burn on her nose in every photo from the beach. She is totally fine and the scab is almost completely gone already, but there was a lot of crying (by both of us) at first, and a lot of bleeding. I'm sure a variety of wounds are in our future as Freyja masters walking...and then running...and then jumping...and bike-riding, etc. So, basically from here on out.

Well, that about covers it for our summer trip. We had a lot of fun, and I'm already looking forward to next year!

Close...But Not Close Enough!

This is an airplane, much like the one that Freyja and I are supposed to be sitting on right this very minute, flying to the Atlanta, GA airport with a short lay-over and then connecting to a second plane which arrives in Newport News, VA.

But, we're not on it.

This morning, despite the fact that I had set my cell phone alarm clock, checked it to make sure it was on, and re-checked it just to make sure...it didn't go off. How does that happen???

Thus, when mom yelled up the stairs at 5am, wanting to know why I wasn't awake...I jolted out of bed and the insanity and pandemonium began. I thought I was going to have a !@#$ing heart attack.

It literally felt like that scene in "Home Alone" where the family has a power failure in the middle of the night and their alarm clock gets reset, therefore not waking them up. They jolt out of bed one hour before their entire 20 member extended family's flight is supposed to take off from New York to Paris on Christmas, and scream "We slept in!". Everyone in the house immediately starts haphazardly running all over the place, throwing luggage, tripping on things, etc. until they all pile in the car and get to the airport and then to their gate, just in time.

The good thing, or at least I thought so as we were on our way to the airport, was that last night I got everything ready, down to the last detail, so that this morning would run flawlessly (obviously not). As soon as I jumped out of bed, even though we were running very behind, all I had to do was dress Freyja and I in the clothes that I had already laid out, drag the luggage downstairs, get some things out of the fridge and throw them in my carry-on, and strap ourselves and our luggage into the car, and we were off. We still had a chance of making it!

With speed-demon superwoman grandma at the wheel, we were at the airport with more than 30 minutes to spare. While I went inside with the checked luggage, mom took Freyja out of her car-seat and strapped her into the stroller. It was going to be fine!

I got up to the counter with our luggage, holding the boarding passes and check-in information I had already printed out from the Internet, hopeful that we'd beat the clock...and the guy wouldn't check the luggage. He was condescending and sarcastic. I look at the clock...and it says I have 30 minutes until take-off. He tells me that they have already taken the luggage carts to the plane a couple of minutes ago, but that if I want to take our luggage onto the plane, I can do that.

Right. I'm going to single-handedly carry two suitcases, a carseat, an umbrella stroller, a diaper bag, and a child through airport security and through the jet-way onto the airplane. Not going to happen. I am awesome, but not that awesome. Sorry.

He tells me we'll have to fly stand-by on the next two flights, which are completely booked (what? why bother?), or our tickets won't be any good. The ticketing agent then disappears and never comes back. So, I called superwoman Heidi and she arranged a later flight by phone. Evidently there were open seats on the next two flights, and we didn't have to fly stand-by. This dude was obviously clueless about his own airlines policies, or else he was just hostile about his job and wanted someone to take out his anger on. Who knows?

So, we're home again. Freyja is back in bed, I'm back in my pajamas, the luggage is still in the car, and I didn't have a heart attack.

But, almost.

Sand and Sun

Freyja and I are off to see my best friend and her godmother Heidi in Virginia from the 8th to the 18th. Yay! We're going to do some hanging out, swimming in the pool, cooking, watching movies, and general Heidi and Adrienne shenanigans, except this time we'll have my new little sidekick along too. We'll also, at some point, be spending some time at the beach. I'm so excited! I haven't been to the beach in what seems like forever, and it will be Freyja's first time. I love "first time" things. It's so fun to see her experience something new. This will also be her first time in an airplane, first time away from home for more than a weekend...lots of "firsts."

So, I'll be away from my blog and my e-mail, virtually shunning the online world, until we get back. In fact, this will be the first time in years that I've gone anywhere without my laptop. Will I be okay? I hope so. Will I go through some sort of Internet/laptop withdrawal? I hope not. I think it will be nice to just forget about all that technology for a few days. But, when I get home I'll make sure to post some stuff here about our trip.

Bon Voyage to us! See you soon!

Stars and Stripes

Happy 4th of July!

We had a picnic dinner in the park today (along with thousands of other people!) and watched the fireworks at dusk.

Freyja's first experience with fireworks was iffy. Since all children react to things differently, I really wasn't sure what to expect. The show didn't start until around 9:30pm, and she was starting to give off the "I need to go to bed" vibe just 10 minutes before that. Initially, once the everything began, she seemed scared by the sounds and jumped back in my arms, but I was holding her close and reassuring her....and then she eventually became curious and amazed with those big blue eyes as wide as can be...and then things moved to whimpering and a few tears...more tired noises...and then she fell asleep! I can't believe she actually snoozed through the second half of a fireworks show. Crazy.

I think she'll do better next year.

Baby Swim II

We just finished up the second and final week of baby swim, and I'm really going to miss it, now that it's over. It was a really good experience for both of us. Freyja was able to learn a couple of skills and become comfortable with the pool, and it was great bonding time for the two of us. She really did seem to enjoy the water, and as the sessions progressed, she would actually cry when it was time to get out of the pool! I guess I have a little water baby on my hands!

At the end of each session, a lifegaurd blows a whistle to signify when all the different classes are supposed to exit the pool, and then shortly after, a second whistle to let the next classes know that they need to get in. On the last day after the first whistle, we all lingered in the pool, and tried to stay in the water as long as possible! I don't think any of us wanted baby swim to be over! Ha!

So, here are some photos from the last week. At the bottom, you can see Freyja's "pass card", which lists the skills she was able to learn over the course of the class. I think we'll sign up for baby swim again in the fall. Until then, we'll be swimming in the blow-up pool in the backyard, or at the YMCA, where I just recently got a free two-week trial membership. Yay!

Furry Friends

Today we went to the Jubilee College Olde English Faire, which is held in a small town about an hour away from here. It was your typical renaissance fair type of event, with roaming actors in glitzy versions of the costume of the day, musical performers, jousting, fencing, archery, and sword fighting shows, theater, artisans, merchants, food, etc. They also had some hilarious stuff for kids...a puppet show, a wooden catapult that threw candy, pony rides, and a petting zoo, just to name a few.

Freyja is too little to really understand and enjoy a lot of those things, but she really seemed amused and content most of the day just to take everything in roam around in the sunshine. She liked watching all the weird people walking around (and trust me there were a lot of those types!) and checking out all of the little children, which she has a new interest in all of a sudden.

Freyja was also extremely excited about the petting zoo. She squealed and shook her hands all over the place (her signal for way exciting stuff), and I think I had to literally pry her away from the wire fencing that was around each of the animals. She had a chance to pet a couple of lambs, two goats, and an emu...but the highlight was the rabbit area, where the children could each hold a baby rabbit of their own, pet it, and let it jump all over them for a few minutes. Mom has taken her to the local zoo in the past, but she hasn't actually touched any other animals besides our cat and a few random dogs, so this must have been super cool to her. She was loving it! I really enjoy watching her experience new things, and she was so amazed by the different creatures she was able to see and touch.

Since Freyja has always liked music, she also seemed happy about the different performers throughout the day. There was a small group that played drums and a dulcimer type instrument, and while we were listening to them, she was bopping around in her stroller, waving her arms, and even trying to snap her fingers. Hilarious. The same goes for the drum and bagpipes group which we saw later in the day...which she giggled and danced around to also. I love the fact that she's starting to "dance". It's the cutest.

Baby Swim

We just finished up the first week of a two week session of baby swim. It's been a totally fantastic experience! It's been nice to get into the pool on hot days, have some bonding time with Freyja in the water, and see her interact with other babies and try something new. On the first day, there wasn't really any instruction, just open swim time so parents could get their babies comfortable with the water. The next three days involved simple games in the water and practicing front and back floating, kicking legs, and towing (being pulled along in the water on their belly). We also submerged our babies at various times, to get them used to holding their breath under water. I have to admit, I was a bit scared to do it at first, but after thinking it over and determining that such a thing would have to be a natural human instinct, at least as an infant...we took the plunge too and tried some quick swoops under the water. Overall, it was a great first week, and there were only a couple of tears! It was so fun to see Freyja get excited and giggle in the pool...