As graceful as always

I almost forgot to post today. I've been in a bit of a funk since this morning when, carrying E, I slipped on the ice outside of his daycare and fell. My right knee and elbow took the blunt of the fall but poor E fell on his back and bonked his head lightly. It freaked him out quite a bit and upset me too. I felt horrible about dropping E (mother-of-the-year!) and then really embarrassed since my graceful landing was witnessed by several people who kept asking if I was already. Le sigh.

Also, E ate a chicken nugget at daycare that contained something he was allergic to and so when I came to pick him up the skin around one of his eyes was red and covered with little hives. But on the plus side, he was still having fun playing with the toys and didn't want to leave. I gave him a teaspoon of Benadryl right away and in about an hour and after a bath he was back to normal. When I had dropped him off I had asked the cook to check the ingredients of the nuggets for milk and eggs so I'm not quite sure where the breakdown occurred, but obviously something went wrong. The next time I drop him off I'm going to bring a bag of E-safe chicken nuggets for the daycare to keep in their freezer and feed to E if there's any doubt about the food they're serving that day in the future.

I know it's wasn't like anything super traumatic or even horrible happened today but I still feel like I've been put through a wringer. (Because I am a delicate flower like that.) So it's nice that I have an outing scheduled with some girlfriends tonight for dinner and some Christmas shopping. I'm still a little concerned about E's reaction. If I E was going to be with a sitter I would probably cancel but N will be home so I can go out without feeling burdened by worry.

Now I just have to go clean my house like mad before my friends show up.

Puddin' on the Ritz

I found some soy chocolate pudding at the grocery store and bought it for E to try. He was a little apprehensive at first but came around in the end.

Cutting Board Giveaway!

Remember this cutting board that I worked on last semester?

Well, it's finally finished and ready to find a new home!

The cutting board is made of solid maple, walnut, and cherry glued together with the end grain facing up so it should be durable but also easy on your knives. The glue I used is food safe as is the finish (mineral oil) that I rubbed on it. It measures approximately 10.5" by 14.5" and is almost 1.5" thick so it's pretty hefty.

Giveaway Rules:

• Family members that received a cutting board last year are disqualified (sorry!)
• Everyone else, leave a comment on this post to enter. If I don't know you in real life or online (i.e. I've left a comment on your blog before) please introduce yourself in your comment.
• Readers outside the states are welcome to enter.
  
• Comments will be closed at midnight this Friday (the 18th) and I'll use a number generator to select a winner at random.

Gift Guide: Kids and Babies Edition

We're getting ready order some gifts for our nieces and nephews. Here are some of the things on Amazon that caught my eye.

20 Q game - $5
(On sale and great for car rides)

Boxed Set Featuring Little Pea, Little Hoot, Little Oink - $13
(These are super cute and illustrated by Jen Corace, one of my favorites.)

Plan Toy Fruit and Vegetable Play Set - $10

Disney Snow White Feature Doll - $15Fisher-Price Musical Microphone thingy - $20

(List price is $55 so this seems to be a great deal)

Star Wars Clone Wars Helmet - $15

(Somewhat mixed reviews but list price is $50, so it might be worth $15.)

Gift Guide: I "Heart" Art Edition

I know that time's starting to run out for ordering things online but I thought I'd post some gift ideas over the next couple of days. (Basically this is just an excuse for me to waste time trawling the internet for things I like.) Up today is affordable art. I think everything except for the typography temple print is around $40 or under.

Letterpressed typography print of the Salt Lake Temple

Mini bird paintings by Amy Ruppel

Band posters by The Small Stakes

Beach Walk by Jon Klassen

Pink Elephants by Andrea Offermann

Nest by Jing Wei

Signed Scott C prints

print by persimmonandpink

Tiger print by berkleyillustation

The Bunnies Fall - Kozyndan

The Giant Suburban Bear Monster Visits NYC by Matte Stephens

Let the harsh judging commence!

After much thought and discussion we've decided to send E to a daycare/preschool for two mornings a week. The main reasons behind my decision are 1) my work has really ramped up lately and I sometimes need to go into the office for meetings or spend a few hours at a time on my reports 2) E enjoys socializing with other kids and as an only child doesn't get many chances to do so 3) the daycare I found comes highly recommended by a friend; it's run by Kids on the Move (the county's child occupational therapy program) and has a strong focus on activities (they don't even have a tv).

Even though I feel that this is a good choice for E and our family, I've agonized over the decision. In general I'm not one for hand-wringing, but I do feel a bit guilty. I really enjoy being a mother but I like working too. I'm pretty good at what I do, I feel appreciated by my team at work, and the extra money is nice. And most of the time I'm able to manage watching E and working at the same time quite well (i.e. I usually work when he naps.)

But I have to admit that on the occasions when work gets really crazy E spends entirely too much time watching tv, sometimes several hours a morning. I think that sending him to daycare for a few hours a week is preferable to that. I'd rather get him on a routine where he can go and hang out with other kids and I can take care of my work at the same time. Then on the days he's home I'll have more time to focus on doing fun stuff with him.

While I feel like I'm making a good choice I have to admit that I'm a little apprehensive about being judged by other moms. Not many mothers with young children in my neighborhood work. I can't think of anyone else who only has one kid and who sends them to daycare. I know I shouldn't let it bother me but I feel a vague unease when I wonder how other people will perceive my actions.

Having said all that, the most important thing to me is that E does well. I truthfully think he will like it but if he has issues or doesn't thrive I can take him out and figure something else out.

Letter: Month Twenty-Five

Dear E,

This month has been amazing. Your verbal skills have burst into being like some violent tropical flower that blooms overnight. You've become quite the little parrot and love trying out new words and phrases. When you hear a sound in the distance like the trains that run near our house you'll cup your hand around an ear and shout, "Listen!...train!"



Your improved verbal skills have opened up a whole new world of embarrassing social situations. You never saw our little mouse visitor but listening to your dad and I talk about it along with watching an episode of Wonder Pets that featured a mouse has cemented mice as one of your favorite topics of conversation. "Mouse!" is one of the first things you say when I get you up. At first it freaked me out because I thought that you had seen a mouse in your room but no, you just like talking about them. In fact when we were at the neighborhood Christmas party you struck up a conversation about mice with one of our neighbors, apropos of nothing. We then had to explain about our little Thanksgiving adventure. So, um, thanks for that! I have a feeling it won't be the last time your mouth gets us in an embarrassing situation.

Take for instance your sometimes spotty enunciation. You like pointing out trucks as we drive down the freeway but you have some predictable (but pretty funny) problems saying "truck." I try not to laugh but sometimes it's pretty hard.

You're really interested in lights and the dark. Almost every time we turn off a light you exclaim, "Oh, no! It's dark!" and then mumble some additional unintelligible commentary. Since you're still enamored with the moon I bought you a yellow crescent shaped lamp and every night we read books by its light and then afterward you flip the switch and turn it off. Sometimes you like to stall and complain about turning it off but if I just hold you close and talk to you about how it's time to go to bed you always turn it off yourself. It's very sweet.

I know that parental navel-gazing is pretty annoying so I try not to bore other adults by recapping the latest cute/funny thing you did. But sometimes after you've gone to sleep your dad and I will talk about the day and indulge ourselves by discussing the cute and funny things you did that day. In the middle of such moments I feel the love of our little family wrap around me and I marvel at our blessings.

Love,

Mama