Pint Sized Griotte

Julia has taken to song. She's been singing for a long time but now she has more melodies and more words to put with it. Most of her songs are sung to the tune of "Old McDonald" but she throws in the occasional "ABC" or "Itsy Bitsy Spider". Lyrically she sings the adventures of Julia and family in the tradition of the epic songs of old or the griot songs of west Africa. A typical song might be something like:

My name is Julia Frances and I have a dog, his name is Johnders. There's TP and Splotches, what's their names? They are the names of the cats and my Grandma Bonnie's house...I pet them...India and Johnders is my dog. Jesse, Michael, India plays with Johnders when she comes to my back yard with my mommy and daddy.

We go to Sam and Anne Marie's house and play in the pool and get cupcakes and Johnders, he's my dog and I feed him treats and he sits down and I play with him. Last night I wore my Dora PJs and I cried and I took a bath and Mommy went upstairs. It was dark, we read a book and I brushed my teeth...Where's the moon?...I woke up and we eat breakfast with my dad and my mom and she went to work. My dad went to the Y with me and I exercise. Down Dog, Up Dog...1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 16, 17, 18...Moses was a baby and his sister, what's his sister's name? MIRIAM. His mother and the princess, what's her name? His mother's name is Jochebed. Moo moo here and a moo moo here and moo moo here. Old McDonald had a farm. Moo moo here and a moo moo her.

This can go on for 10+ minutes (again in the epic poem tradition) while she's running around the house. Its a blast to listen to because you can see the things that make an impact in her day. Her language can be breathtakingly funny as well as stunningly sophisticated. Her imagination is hard at work putting these facts together and it is obviously easier to do with melody and rhythm. I think we should all sing and tell stories more.

Now. if I could just get kora lessons.

Defining Herself

"I'm a girl, a child." Julia says emphatically.
"Don't call me a baby" she adds with even more confidence.

We continue to direct her but Julia is taking control of her life quickly. She is moving through potty training with lightening speed now that we've started to emphasize it. She so wants to wear underwear - "like you and like mommy".

Her abilities and skills continue to appear and refine. She has so much of Tara's confidence and directness...I can't wait to watch a teen Julia and Tara butt heads (insert evil laugh).

I am excited to see how she defines herself with each passing age.

Happy Birthday Tara!

Happy birthday to my favorite wife!!

I hope your day is the start of a wonderful year.

Number 2 in the pot

"I can't do it! I can't pee." Julia yells from the potty which Tara can see but I can't.

We hear the frustration in her voice. Of course, it is between dinner and bed which is essentially Julia's "I am frustrated" time of the day.

She leaves the bathroom - bottomless. Then the bluestreak we so often see, Julia running from one room to another, goes blazing down the hall toward the bathroom.

At this point, Tara has lost it. She is trying not to laugh out loud but Julia can see her and I can see her, she cannot contain herself. Meanwhile Julia is yelling again, "I can't do it. I can't pee."

This sequence actually happens twice but at the end of the second we hear:

I did it! I pooped!

Tara goes to investigate and sure enough, Julia pooped in the potty. Whoops and yells and clapping all around. Julia, in typical Julia/Tara fashion, asks "I get stickers?" I'm thinking hell yes, you get stickers for pooping in the pot.

Our kid is on her way to underwear (all she cares about) and no more diaper changes (all we care about).

Potty Training Joy

Yesterday I got a voice mail message from Jai describing the first successful "pee in the pot." So exciting!!

The other day my sister & mother were discussing whether I'd be "upset" to miss this first milestone ... NO! I just want it to happen.

The past few months have been frustrating as the process has been so slow. I of course am not a patient person. As this process continues to teach me, I'm not in control of what Julia ultimately does, especially with this part of her body. It really cannot be forced; she has to connect what is happening with her bladder & understand the need to be seating on the toilet BEFORE the urine leaves her body. She's been wearing training pants for about 8-9 months, but I really don't think she was ready or capable of using them to true potential. The past few weeks have been mostly amusing as we decided to have Julia go "commando" as much as possible. Parts of our house have gotten clean with much mopping. Little Naked Girl is what we call her! : )

I understand why Susie & Bonnie might wonder, but I know there will be more opportunities to watch Julia pee in the pot. I'm very proud of her for communicating with Jai & getting to the toilet on time! Julia really wants to wear underwear & understands that peeing in the pot is necessary. I bought some great organic cotton underwear at Hanna Anderson in Atlanta (when Susie & I went to the ATP tournament earlier this week). Julia was SO excited. 1 pair has the days of the week on it - she really likes that one!

Keep up the great work, Julia!

Peeing in the pot

I told my dad not to come in the bathroom with me and I peed in the pot all by myself. Dad gave me two Dora stickers and I put them on my feet, one right there and one right there.

My dad said he was proud of me.

Aunt Susie

I usually call her that.
However, she is in Nashville for her annual visit (I wish she could visit more often) & my mom calls her "Suz." That is a great nickname.

"Hey, Suz!"

She & my mom laughed & laughed when they heard me say it for the first time.
I'm SO adorable!!! : )

Come visit again soon, Suz!

The Benefits of Buying Locally [Infographic]

If you need more proof as to why local is better look at this...

The Benefits of Buying Locally [Infographic]

Mother's Day 2011

Frances book for Julia from Bonnie - I meant to write this post months ago obviously, but found it in the draft box! YIKES! Bonnie gave Julia the book "Bread for Frances" on Mother's Day.  That is so sweet for a grandmother to give her granddaughter a present for Mother's Day. Usually it's the other way around & we did something for my mother for MD, but I cannot remember now what. I think we had lunch together after church - I think at Bonnie's house & we cooked it together. Still nice to be together. Jai got some extra time alone at home before he went to work. Bonus! : )

Anyway, the book. The "Frances" books were favorites of our family. My sister, brother, mother & I all LOVED the Frances character & stories involving her parents, younger sister & friends. Now the multi-generational exposure continues with Julia having her own book. Hopefully she'll get some from Imagination Library though we'll get some for her too I'm sure.

Life in Heaven...

...watching Julia sleep peacefully.

Eat, Eat, Eat!

This really should be my mom's post because she told us this story. Julia was at Bonnie's, probably a Monday when Jai worked at library, and they were next door playing on the neighbors' swing set. Suddenly Julia took off running toward Bonnie's house, yelling "Eat, Eat, Eat!" She was hungry apparently & there was no stopping her from exclaiming her need for food. We laughed & laughed when Bonnie told us of course.

Julia is truly her mother's daughter - when she's hungry, she's got to eat NOW! Darn the consequences or anyone in her way! : )

Life In Hell...

a toddler version of Julia at bedtime.

Spring of Full(er) Integration

Tara posted recently about giving herself over to our marriage, child and each other more fully. I too have had to come to terms with that concept. I haven't been forthright with her about my finances which has been a burden on me because I knew I should tell her the full extent of my debt but I didn't because among other things, I thought I could handle it. We have had several meetings about our finances and each time Tara gets a little more info about where I'm at but in this electronic age I never had paperwork to show her what was going on and for whatever reason, she never asked me to pull it up on the computer. Now, in the grand scheme of things the debt is handlable. Our house isn't gonna be taken away, our cars are safe but - and here's where I never considered the family - we are extremely limited with savings for the future and comfort money and following that through, we are now limited on vacation time b/c I took a weekend job. Of course, these are luxuries to many but b/c of my poor money management they are not luxuries we can afford although we should've been able to. 

There are all sorts of personal reasons why I didn't disclose fully my situation but none of them hold water. I find it hard to allow myself to justify personal behavior and decisions to anyone considering my last experience with that was explaining my reasons to my parents.

So, now my debts are in the open and to more fully integrate myself  I have submitted to following the Blood-Type Diet. Tara is a firm believer in this diet but I am completely skeptical. I opened my big mouth and told Tara there are all sorts of variations of the original book, one of which is related to getting and being pregnant, which is a category we are in. We are trying to get pregnant again. Tara saw in that book a tip for a more successful conception is to have both partners follow their respective diet plans. Well, that's why I am on board. Although I am skeptical I will follow the plan. I could always lose some weight and even if the blood type diet makes no sense to me if it results in lower blood pressure I'll take it. So, until we get pregnant, stop trying to get pregnant or my blood pressure drops significantly I am on the blood-type diet.

Integration is a lifetime effort and until I die I promise to continue to become more integrated in this marriage and all other relationships which I am partner. Now, let's see if I strength to follow through with the promise.

A Sick Child is a Funny Child

I know I shouldn't laugh at Julia when she feels bad - she's got some stomach bug - but her pitiful call for Tara or me is really cute and even a bit funny in its pitifulness.

"mooommeeeee" if Tara is here
and "daaaddddeee" every other time.

I don't know exactly what's going on. She ate a good breakfast yesterday but after the Y she ate about 2 bites of a granola bar and wanted to go take her nap. Three hours later she woke up, ate the rest of the granola bar and wanted to lie back down. Within an hour I heard "daaaddddeee". By the time I got down the hall she had thrown up the granola bar all over the guest bed. HUGE MESS. Same thing happened with yogurt at dinner time except this time we heard "mooommeeeee".

We gave her some ginger tea and a bit of crystalized ginger, read a couple of stories and she slept the rest of the night without incident.

This morning...so far so good eventhough she says her stomach hurts.

Anyway, those pitiful cries for help are sometimes sickly cute.

My brother Joel

I've been meaning to post about Joel for months, in particular 2 stories! Even though it is October, I'm going to date this in April because these definitely happened before that.  Joel moved into our house in February 2010 & moved out in March 2011. It was an interesting experience for all of us. Johnders fell in love, truly adores Joel. Julia did too - she really enjoyed seeing Joel every day. They both seem to miss him lots. Jai & I had slightly different perspectives on Joel living with us, versus a trusting dog & small child. : )

Even though Joel really wasn't self sufficient enough to live on his own, we finally had to make the hard decision to ask for the key. He transitioned permanently to living with his girlfriend, whom he met in January, her 4 year old daughter & her mother. Not the best circumstances, but Joel had over a year to get his life in order.  He kept his job & paid most of his bills which is amazing, but other decisions were not as well managed & we didn't feel comfortable anymore.

Story 1 - really it's more of a comment as is Story 2 - this one is truly funny
"A sweater is like putting on a warm hug."
Imagine a 35 year old man who is 6 feet tall saying this sentence to you.

Story 2 - we laughed a bit after, but it's not funny, truly reflective of Joel's poor decision making process
After getting arrested for a DUI in January, Joel, Jai & I were discussing the situation, trying to understand what happened, why Joel had been driving after drinking, some options/choices he could have made. Joel says "so if you & Jai go out to dinner, 1 of you doesn't drink?" One of us replied "uh, yes, 1 of us is the DD." Joel's response - "Wow, that's really responsible."

I love my brother & wish him well. I truly hope that he is able to organize his life to take care of himself & his children in a mature & responsible way. I also will try to help him if I can, but not at the sacrifice of my safety or my family's.

Hypothyroidism - is that what I have?

Maybe finally an answer to a health mystery I feel I've been dealing with for years!

Reading the book Living Well with Hypothyroidism (Mary Shomon) has been hugely helpful. There's a checklist that confirms the MANY symptoms I experience most days.

Update on 10-17-11
This post is the final one of the draft titles I started in March. Yeah, I might be close to writing a real, live, current post! : )

This one I actually wrote something before I abandoned the blog! Ironically nothing really changed. I read the book, did the checklist, went back to clinic for follow-up blood work, got a referral to an endocrinologist who I saw in May & didn't like his personality or attitude towards me or my research. His answer is that I'm fatigued, like it's a relatively new concept. Yeah, like when I was pregnant & now have a small child. No, I explained to him, but he didn't listen, this is an issue I've had for a long time.

Whatever, I'll work on my health with other supports since that was a waste of a $35 co-pay.

Playing Catch-up: a year of Wellesley magazines

Another wonderful title as I catch up on posts I started in March! I think it was during Spring Break that I read the 4 quarterly issues of the 2010 Wellesley magazines. In this case, old news is still good news. I really enjoy reading about current events on campus as well as various stories related to alumnae issues/concerns. Despite the cold weather most of the year, I am sad that I don't live closer to MA.  Also I lament that Julia doesn't have more opportunities to be on campus, especially when Sewanee is less than 2 hours from Nashville & we go there every year. However, the good news is that I have Wellesley friends that I keep in good contact with & we see every year & talk about them & their children (Julia loves looking at the holiday photos & saying everyone's names) constantly. Julia also recognizes the Wellesley magazine whenever she sees it (I don't know where the Sewanee publication is) because the Summer 2011 issue is still on the coffee table.  I finished the Spring 2011 edition this past weekend! : )

Good writing & memories of a wonderful institution! Thank you, Wellesley. I love you!

Teething Irritability AGAIN!

This seems to keep happening. I don't know why I expect this teething business to be over, never to reappear again. I guess her teeth are still emerging through her gums or whatever. However, it continues to stump us when it happens. Maybe 1 day we'll understand, but for now I feel like a new parent again & again. Sometimes I wish there was a good parent manual.  For now, we do our best to keep Julia alive! : )

yummy & other happy eating sounds!

This one isn't as hard to remember because Julia still makes these sounds. It's adorable! Truly an expressive person who enjoys her food. Not surprising since I am a lover of food, like mother, like daughter! : )

stayaction in nashville 2011

Once again here's a title I wrote in March, but I'm not sure what I planned to write.
It's Spring Break & we didn't travel anywhere. I suspect for financial reasons, but don't remember.
Again, not that interesting now, but stayactions can be fun too. I'm sure I got a facial or something pampering & had lunch with Anne Marie. That's what I usually try to do when I have a break.  Of course more time with Julia & Jai too. : )

We had lots of plans to travel in the summer when we have more flexibility than 1 week off.  We're lucky to have options so I'm grateful for the school calendar that gives us lots of vacation time.

Another post done! : )

the flu transition to big girl bed

I wrote the title a LONG time ago, but didn't write anything. I haven't written anything on the blog in months. I wish I had more discipline when it comes to writing.

When Julia had the flu in March, she was having trouble resting in her crib, she couldn't get comfortable sleeping at night, there wasn't enough room for pillows. She would sleep on the mattress on the floor during her daily nap. However, when she was sick, we were able to elevate Julia's head with the pillow & she was able to sleep & rest.  Somehow enough nights of this method got her in the habit of sleeping on her big girl bed & she didn't go back to the crib.

Short post, not really that interesting, but I'm finally getting to it! : )

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

A few weeks ago I finally finished Barbara Kingsolver's recent book. I thought it was published recently, then I saw that it was in 2007 - not so much! : )

1. I wish I had read it sooner, it is so good, so interesting.
2. I love Barbara Kingsolver! It surprises me that it took me 4 years to get & read this book (from the library, you know I don't buy books anymore!).
3. It's impressive & inspiring to read about Barbara's family's goal to eat local food for a year.

After moving from Tucson, AZ to their family farm in Virginia, Barbara's family of husband & 2 daughters decided to eat local food for a year & wrote about the experience. Even though the majority of the book is written from Barbara's perspective, I really enjoyed reading the entries her husband & adult daughter contributed.

In addition to personal narratives about growing, harvesting, preparing food for storage, there is also information about food history, big business agriculture practices, environmental & health consequences & Slow Food movement. There are similar notes found in "Food Inc," "No Impact Man" and "The Omnivoure's Dilemma" - all good books with valuable information that more people, especially in the US, need to read & change habits.

It is slightly intimidating to consider how to incorporate the ideas & concepts into our life.
1. We didn't have much success with the garden we planted last spring/summer.
2. It seems extremely time consuming to grow your own food. Almost as time consuming to cook whole foods instead of buying frozen foods & popping them in the microwave!
3. We participate in a CSA program & that's basically the only meat we eat (I eat vegetarian usually when we eat out, Jai usually takes advantage of his chance to eat pork).
4. To supplement the produce we get in bi-weekly CSA box (we share with Bonnie), we purchased fruits & veggies from neighborhood Farmer's Market. Even until late fall/winter we attempted to get locally grown greens & root vegetables from the city's original Farmer's Market, trying NOT to buy lettuce & tomatoes from CA, FL or Mexico.

We cannot change everything overnight!
We're doing the best we can even though it's not perfect 100% of the time.
We try to make changes every day.

Some changes for 2011
1. We plan to grow a garden again & be more committed & diligent about caring for it.
2. We plan to buy more produce at farmer's markets & preserve food to store for winter use.
3. We support small businesses instead of large corporations like Whole Foods, Kroger, Target.

This isn't new information, but I recently read again in a recent edition of Nashville Parent magazine about how little we spend in this country on food compared to other "developed" countries. Most of us have heard how the current generation is likely to have a shorter life span than their parents. Instead of spending our money on healthy food, Americans buy cheap food & spend money on health care costs (issues related to diabetes, heart disease, obesity, etc.). It's dumb!

One quote in the book has stuck with me, it's written by Wendell Berry, an author & farmer from Kentucky. I keep coming back to it as I try to have the best relationship with food. "Eaters must understand that eating takes place in the world, it is inescapably an agricultural act, and that how we eat determines, how the world is used." If we want to eat cheap food filled with preservatives & HF corn syrup, then support CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) & other large corporations. If we want to eat healthy food filled with nutrients & pay the "real" cost for its growth (produced by the hard work of farmers), then support local food production. If it seems too hard, start small. Ultimately we should care what goes in our bodies as well as how the earth is used to grow it.

Read the book. It made me hungry for fresh veggies & springtime, maybe not a good thought as winter persists in being cold & snowy. However, it made me happy thinking about how wonderful the food grown in TN, or wherever you live, really is.

Do we live in Minnesota?

TN snow in 2011
Originally uploaded by bmitd67

What is going on with the weather this winter? OMG!
We finally went to school ALL 5 days last week. We didn't do that 1 week in January.
We attended school 13 days in January! This is insane!

Once again snow fell in middle TN on Wednesday afternoon & into the evening. MNPS schools dismissed 2 hours early which is a good thing because the snow started falling around 1:30pm & picked up speed by 3pm & kept going for the next 4-5 hours. Luckily I was home with Julia, though I stupidly sent Jai to work a few hours at NPL (he went today & got most of his hours which he could done anyway!). Fortunately Jai made it home safely. According to the news & hearing my brother's journey from work, many people had challenging trips home in the cold temperatures & snowy/icy road conditions.

We're out of school again tomorrow which makes like 10 or 11 days total SO FAR! I typically work the week after school is out so at this point I'll be at work until June 13 or something crazy like that! I'm going to have about 5 weeks of summer break since I return 2 weeks before teachers. UGH! It's nice to be off, but I abhor cold weather so I'm stuck in the house. That's not bad overall, but in the summer I'd rather be at the pool. Oh, well, I don't control the weather so I'm making the most of spending time with Jai & Julia. At least I don't have to figure out child care with I'm home for a snow day. : )

HAPPY SNOW DAY!

P.S. This written by Tara, but posted from Flicker so that's why it says Jai

"Yes"

Imagine Sofia Vergara's voice saying "yes" - coming out of the mouth of an adorable 2 year old.
It's hilarious & cute! So cute!
For those who don't watch "Modern Family" & don't know who Sophia Vargara is, it makes me sad.
It is one of the funniest shows. Julia doesn't even watch it & she imitates it! : )

Back off by Julia

Tara writes: apparently Jai says "back off" to Johnders when he gets in the way or is too aggressive, especially with Julia.

So now I (Julia) say it ALL the time to Johnders. Sometimes Johnders gets too close to me. I am good at expressing my feelings & I tell him to give me space.

Tara again: it's hilarious to hear her talk to him. Sometimes she's kind of loud & obnoxious, especially when Johnders really isn't near her. Johnders usually responds appropriately which is a good dog.