Mother's Day

A nice cup of tea

[Edit: next week is Mother's Day. I have time to get something for my own mom. Whew!] Today is Mother's Day in the US. I nearly missed it and was only reminded when I received a card from a friend wishing me a happy first Mother's Day (Mothers' Day?) When Sprog was still gestating, Spouse and I decided (well, more him than me) that we would celebrate UK Mother's Day, Mothering Sunday, instead of the US one. Well that was a bust. We only found out when that was when seeing it on a friend's calendar on the actual day. So today, for me, is the holiday, Hallmark though it may be.

They say, those mythical "they," that when you have a child every day is Mother's Day. Well I can't even get the kid to make me tea on the actual day so I call bs on that. But I am, of course, a mother every day to this beautiful new person in my life.

Playing

I had my first real dose of comparative, somewhat competitive parenting yesterday at a party. Sprog was the youngest there, being one month younger than the host's child. There was several other children there of varying ages as well. No one asked if she slept through the night, but sitting up (occasionally), crawling (more dragging than crawling but frequent and fast) and solid food (vague interest has been taken) were all queried and compared. I have no idea if she came up short, mainly since I don't care about such comparisons. She does, however need serious lessons in sharing and not using other children as a teething ring. Or maybe the other girl needs assertiveness training.

I feel bad that I haven't been posting here as planned. I have been spending more in the moment of parenting than reflecting on it. She already has two teeth now (first tooth on April 4th), chases the cat and can't wait to walk. It is amazing how fast she is growing and changing.

With the growth of our family comes a much needed change in our living situation. We are in the process of buying a house, leaving behind the apartment where we married, the building I've lived in for 14 years. The house is a lovely two story late Victorian affair with period details and a big back garden. I'm sure I shall post more about the house itself over in urban earth mother after it is ours.

And when I'm less distracted by a cranky, squirming child, one now dozing in my lap on my dominant arm (I've learned a lot of one-handed typing) I shall post more here.

Chatty baby

Sorry about the poor focus. Auto focus grabbed the background

Bath time

Hot water would really help this situation

Our water heater is broken.

Without prompting, the landlord decided to replace our furnace last week. This was great since it had started acting up but I was loathe to call the landlord since it wasn't consistent and the last time there was a problem he wanted to know if I knew how to use the thermostat (yes, I can turn the dial on the wall that I've been using for the past seven years, thanks.) But now we have a shiny new furnace that works a treat. However, we have no hot water.

So when HVAC guys installed the new furnace, they shut off the gas for obvious reasons. When everything was in, they turned it back on and relit the pilot to the water heater but clearly something didn't take. The next morning I was the first to bathe and hopped in to a tepid shower even with it turned as hot as possible. At first I though the heat had been turned down on the water heater but it was actually that the pilot went out and would not stay lit. This was discovered by the maintenance man rebuilding our hallway wall (taken out to facilitate furnace replacement) and confirmed when the HVAC guy returned later that evening. So now we're waiting for a part to come in so that the heater will safely stay lit and we can wash not only the dishes but ourselves again.

We'll be keeping her once the bathwater is gone

Not that we are entirely without resources. In the 1930s many in Boston would have lived in cold water flats, heating water on the stove for dishes and bathing. I'm not ambitious (or patient) enough to heat enough water to fill the bath tub, but we have sponged ourselves down with a sink full of water and I manged to wash dishes yesterday. Today would be the day Sprog really needs a post-nappy change wash though. But lucky for her, she fits nicely in the sink.

UPDATE: As I was writing this the HVAC man returned and he is working on replacing the thermal coupling (which was apparently "fried") right now. We may be able to wash the stink off of all of us soon!

Friendly Mr. Cephalopod

We've introduced the playmat received as a shower gift and she is really enjoying it. While Orca seems to be her favourite, I think she's warming to Mr. Cephalopod too.

Cranky Baby

Violet has the habit of stopping whatever cute thing she's doing when we bring out the video camera. I thought this might also work with the non-cute things too. No such luck.

Violet awake while Daddy Sleeps

Young Miss Violet is ever so smiley and active. And then I turn the camera on. Here she (eventually) mugs for the camera while her daddy sleeps. Watch for the baby sign language for milk at the end. I swear she's doing it already (she's very advanced!)

Violet stands on her own two feet