Teeth

I knew I would get the job.

The first problem I have with this job is missing my daughter very much. But, it's been three days and already getting easier. The first day was extremely difficult - I almost came home at lunch. Just to have that waking-up-from-her afternoon-nap snuggle. It's a squirmy one, but lengthy.

For Violet, it's been considerably easier. She yells "don't let the door hit you on the way out!" as I leave (although it sounds more like "byeiiiii!") as she takes Oma by the hand to play in her room. She's never been one for separation anxiety. I don't feel left out (too much), but am really happy that my girl is so happy. My mother's heart is at ease, and that is as much as I can ask for. She does yell "MAMAAAA!" when I come home, and that feels good.

As you can see from this picture, she has inherited nothing from me but shiny hair. The next time someone says "she looks nothing like you!", I will point out our shiny, shiny hair.

The second problem I have with this job is the keyboard I have to use. It's one of those ergonomic things, undulating like a wave. My hands are typing about 2 feet apart, and there are some extra keys where they have no business being. Like ù. Also, the buttons like the 'shift', 'control', 'alt' and 'delete' key are labeled with some kind of hieroglyphic script instead of just, oh, WORDS. Totally incomprehensible, and I'm sure it cost a fortune.

Onward...

Violet has discovered the joy of brushing her teeth as many times in a day as possible. We've told her that she has to sit on her stool to brush her teeth, so she frequently runs to sit on her stool, and yells "teeeeeth!". She even throws a bit of a tantrum when we tell her she'll have to wait. Violet's temper tantrums are very short, not even 10 seconds . She just stomps her feet really quickly and emits a high pitched squeal. Kinda funny, really. Here she is, circa this evening.

The Weekend

Enough time has passed that I can now speak of last weekend.

A long, long time ago, I made a promise to Jesse. Never thinking that I would have to honour it.
Guns'n'Roses had reformed and was touring (Jesse's favourite band of all time). He had been to see them in Toronto, but shortly after that the band had split and stopped touring. It was at this juncture where I committed my folly. I thought I was safe. I said,
"If they ever come to Ottawa, I will go and see them with you".
Now you see were this is going.
Last Friday I attended the G'n'f'n'R concert. It was pretty fun, and very rockin'. The crowd was full of people who had emerged from their parents' basements, where they had spent the last 15 years teasing their rock'n'roll hair and keeping their sneakers clean. The band didn't go on until MIDNIGHT. I'm too old for that.
On Saturday, good friends from Toronto came to visit. Obviously, they were impressed by our awesome hosting skills.

We've had a pretty chilled out week since then. The basement got finished, and Oma has moved into her lair. Lunch in Wakefield with Grandpa and Oma, plans to meet with friends, going to the gym....

And then the bombshell.

Job interview today. I assume I'll get the job because I'm a wonderful person. I am thinking of throwing the interview by burping my answers.

How many moms have spent a night before starting work again as I did? So very sad and trying to snuggle your child without alarming them with tears. I had lunch plans on Monday, for crying out loud!

This job isn't going to last forever. I will be at home with her again. She has the best Oma ever taking care of her. And at least we'll still have bath nights together.

A Post in Three Chapters

Chapter 1
The Vortex of Doom
After an enlightening conversation with Nana a few days ago, the "behavior vortex of doom" can now also be referred to as "growing up".
I can hear all you parents out there, chuckling knowingly.

Chapter 2
The Renovations
Ah, friends. The kitchen is still not complete. A replacement cabinet seems to have fallen off the face of the Earth, and for Thomasville to replace it, they must first plant the sapling from which it can be made.

The plumbers were here today fixing the bathroom sink and giving a quote for a putting a second bathroom in the basement. The plumber had a quick look at the sump pump as well, just because, and apparently it's not a sump pump. Let's just say that the words "sewage" and "pit" were used in the same sentence, and if J is reading this before he has talked to me, he may want to call home. Heh.

Chapter 3
The Artist
We all know UV is a genius. Ever since we hooked her up to that computer and then it started smoking because she was smarter then that computer, we knew. I'm going to go ahead and add 'artist' to the mix. It's not surprising, since our families are both very artistic.
Crayons are the media of choice, but the walls next to her fort attest to the fact that paper need not be her only canvas.
She spends a good part of everyday drawing, or asking me to spell her name, or to draw things for her to identify. It's difficult to draw for her, as she puts her face as close to the junction between crayon and paper as possible. That way she doesn't have to wait so long to discover what I'm drwing. Oma showed her how to draw a circle, and she practices those methodically. Today she drew a spiked line and said "hand!" and then "toes!"













Her specialty is to fill every single page of my notebooks with
a scribble or two. I do love my new stationary.
She does seem to favour the left hand (yesss! I win!), but she doesn't use it exclusively.











Apart from that, she's cracking us up in the evenings with goofy antics and singing "Happy Birthday".

She does have an image to maintain...

That whole 'immunization' story Violet? We know the truth. Nose job.

Monday

What a blah Monday.

A few days ago Violet entered into some sort of whiny, sleepless and irritating behaviour vortex-of-doom. Since then, we've seen only glimpses of her usual sweet self (usually while asking for a cookie). Perhaps a spinning spiral of clouds appeared in the middle of the living room and she inadvertantly stepped into it? Whatever. I want my child back.

Good thing she's still cute as a button.

And this is why Daddy doesn't get to dress her anymore

Magically, he always finds the things in her dresser that I'm saving for when she's three, and then combines them with what I'm about to put away for being too small. But, really, it's because of the pig accessory.

Changes

Oma has moved in!








We are now a multi-generational abode. She moved in last Thursday and Violet hasn't let her out of her sight since then. She woke up from a nap today calling for OMA! instead of the usual MAMA!. It's been a very smooth transition for all humans involved. However, if anyone has any advice on how to get two cantakerous cats to like each other, I'd love to hear it.
'Battle to the death' is not an option.
The only drawback to this new arrangement is that I now must tear my still beating heart out and go find a job.

Anyhoo. The more important news is that I wrassled Violet's silk threads of hair into pigtails. It was a moment I've been waiting for since I heard "it's a girl!". I thought I'd have to sit on her and stuff her mouth with marshmallows to get it done, but she was surprisingly compliant for the pigtailing procedure. Yesterday I asked her if she would like pigtails, she said yes, and then sat patiently while I put then in. Woah.
She looks like a big girl and it's breaking all our hearts here.
Another milestone hit yesterday was her first three word sentence, followed shortly by her second three word sentence. "Mama, shoes on!" she said while bringing my shoes to me. She then opened my closet, looked around, and said "Wow! nice shoes!". That's my girl.

A video

I keep a list in my head of things not to do with any more children we might have:

1. Eating cereal from straight from our bowls. It's like having a hungry puppy at your feet.
2. That the park can be accessed from the backyard. Now our backyard is only a means to a better place. We'll change her mind once my herb garden is in next spring though! Herbs!
3. The knowledge that pictures and videos can be viewed instantly on digital cameras. This one really is the worst. Because of this, it's nearly impossible to take videos of Violet. Once the camera has been spotted, she tries to get behind it to view herself. I've tried my best to explain the process, but, y'know, she's a baby. I'm trying to get a video of UV that won't take 20 minutes to download.
Well, for you hardcore UV fans out there willing to wait...there's a DOWNLOAD button at the bottom of the screen once you click on the link:
http://savefile.com/files/222198

In other news:
In the car ride home after picking J up from work, Violet asked for a balloon 45 times in a row. We were counting.

Since J and I like nothing more then to curl up with books on the couch, it should be no surprise that Violet likes it too. It's very funny to hear her reading to herself. Sounds like Hindi.

N