Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Makes a mother's heart jump

Maeve has been testing her limits (read: mine too) lately. Mostly with gravity and the basic forces of physics. Being the responsible parents that Mark and I are, we ask that she limit her chances of disaster, knowing that we will still encounter many downfalls.

This week has been particularly hard. First mishap of the week was a back arching tantrum about getting in the car. This brought her sweet little eye into contact with the car door and now she looks like Rocky Balboa. Not such a good look for an 18 month old.

Then there were lots of falls in between, most of which produce some sort of small mark - a badge if you will. Like the blister on the heel of her right foot. This from insisting on wearing too small shoes. They were cute, but come on. I'm hoping not to teach a daughter that it's always about fashion and maybe not always about comfort either. If I ever catch her wearing Cobbie Cuddlers I'll just die. Earth shoes on the other hand, I say rock on.

All those badges that she is wearing led to questions at her regular check up that Mark took her to. It didn't take Mark long to realize that he was being questioned about her safety - thankfully they believed that he is just fine.

Last but not least this week (and it's only Wednesday) was her fall off the highchair. Now I like to think I'm reasonably calm for a first time parent. I've been through plenty of falls myself, so I usually don't get all pumped up about Maeve getting hurt. Watching your daughter fall straight back off the top of the highchair onto her head though was enough to send adrenaline through me. We tell her all the time, "on your bum or on your knees." As she saw me witnessing her tempt of fate, she quickly tried to sit, but sitting on the back of the highchair is not enough to hold that big diaper butt. Backwards she went and as fast as I was moving, I still didn't get her in time. She cried for a bit as would be expected, but then kept crying, which is out of character for her. I was busy making dinner so I put her in the backpack and kept making the falafel. Maeve kept whining on and off over the next 20 minutes and I figured her head just hurt - mine would if I fell like that. Then came the vomit...all over my back and neck. The nurse in me did not care I was covered in puke, all I could think was she had a hemorrhage or swelling of the brain and I started doing neuro-checks. Pupils equally reactive, she is responsive, balance is good...check, check, check. Thank goodness.

As it turns out she probably had some adrenaline coursing through her too and it didn't agree with her stomach. After it came up, she stopped crying and all was well. She resumed playing with Silas and wanted nothing to do with me. Sam later came over to check her out and cleared her. It certainly was a lot faster than sitting in the ER.

I'm sure we'll be there before long, just glad it was not tonight!

Friday, April 18, 2008

The Helmet

One of Maeve's few words is hat. She knows what her hat is and where it goes. The word hat has also now been extended to include her helmet. (SO AWESOME that we are outside and using the bike again). Maeve used to HATE the helmet, most likely because it fell over her face like a fencing mask. She has grown now and fits into it better. I fear, much like her mother, she will have a small head. If it wasn't for those plastics breaking down she may never need a new helmet again.

Anyway, Maeve and I biked to Monty's Blue Plate the other night for dinner. Mark is still harboring resentment about that one. He loves Monty's and we went on a night he wouldn't be home. Who wants to cook for one and half? If Milo was here, I would have cooked, at least it would have been cooking for two. I digress. We parked the biked, took our gear off and started walking into the diner. Maeve soon turned back and was pulling her helmet out of the Burley and saying, "hat, "Hat," "HAT." All the while with the her head tilted down to indicate that she wanted me to put the helmet back on, which I did, who could resist. Little did I know that she would insist on keeping it on through out the meal. Folks were looking at me and I felt like I had either a mentally challenged child on my hands or one of those unfortunate kids with the misshapened heads.

I guess I can count my blessings that she likes the darn thing. It would be a bummer if she didn't and a lot of crying would ensue as I tried to lash it to her head and strap her in the Burley. Instead, she is breaking out of the house and making b-lines for the Burley and her helmet.

Thank goodness for spring!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Reward for the work!


Sea Food


For those of you that checked the previous post and have taken part in the mission, you all deserve some reward. What better reward than a mug of my girl. (My folks are going to be sadly disappointed cuz it's a pic my mom took). We'll work on more pics in the next few weeks.

Shameless advertising

OK folks, you've been given a mission. We need to get my website www.openarmsmidwifery.com listing with Google. This little business gal could use all the help she can get. You can help by just visiting the site - often. You can also help by putting the web address on your blogs (Helen) or noting that your sister/friend/etc.. started a business in Madison and list the web address.

Anything you can think of would be helpful. The goal is to get my web address to eventually appear on the first page when searching for "homebirth madison," "midwifery madison," etc... It would be nice if I could surpass my old place of employment, but that is just a very selfish and devilish wish of mine.

Thanks all!