Nostalgia

What parent doesn't look at their child and occasionally long for those precious, fleeting, innocent moments of their own childhood? I was thinking that nostalgia was pretty harmless, until I read this:

Nostalgia Noun.\nä-ˈstal-jə\
A wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition.

And this:

An idealistic and regressive, deconstructive reading of the myth of childhood innocence, nostalgia remains a complex phenomenon because it is manifested not only in the narrative construction of fantasy childhoods, but in textual fragments, photographs and everyday objects that produce disjointed feelings of desire and mourning.

...So maybe I won't tell my therapist what I bought Bronwynn for her 2nd birthday:



I'm not sure if this 1979 Tupperware Mini Serve-It set means that I'm idealizing my early childhood or mourning it. Regardless, I have a feeling B will still get a kick out of playing with the tiny cups, pitcher and bowls.

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Mission Accomplished

Confession: My primary goal from the moment Bronwynn wakes up until lunchtime is to completely wear her out. The busier we are in the mornings, the better the chance she'll take a long nap in the afternoon (longer than, say, 45 minutes)....which improves my chances of taking a nap. Which, of course, is the ultimate goal.

Lately, though, I haven't been that successful on my own. I've needed help in the form of playdates, swimming pools, playgrounds, and lots and lots of time outside in the backyard. (And when all else fails, I can drop her at morning daycare...you know, pay someone else to tire her out.) Kris, on the other hand, seems to succeed at wearing B out without fail. He winds her up like a top, then lets her go; her own playful momentum carrying her until she drops from exhaustion...or maybe it's the whiskey he slips into her sippy cup. But look what he managed to do to her on Saturday morning when I was out for a couple hours:



Seriously. He said she was playing in the backyard with Ollie and then just plopped herself down in the grass and fell asleep. If you look closely, she's holding two rocks in her hands (her favorite outdoor toys).

I didn't have the heart to move her, so I set her up with some shade and let her doze.

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Farm Day

Today we discovered a farm not far from our house that offers kids' activities: feeding and petting animals, pony rides, a swimming pond, zip line, playground, tractors, a treehouse, and more. B LOVED feeding the sheep and goats and walking around with the chickens. Grandpa, Grandma Ronnie and Cara joined us for the fun, along with Austi and his family.

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The Belly, 31 Weeks

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Cute as a button...

Last time I was bitten by the craft bug, it was a rather big project (see here). This time, I wanted to make something small for B, so I got out my button maker and created some cute fabric buttons out of some scraps I had around. Then, I turned them into hair clippies. What do you think??

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A Day in the Life, Part 4

It's about 5:00. I tell Bronwynn it's time for Mama to cook dinner, and maybe she should cook something in her kitchen too (this usually buys me a few minutes of alone time to cook as she clangs around her play kitchen).

About 15 minutes later, dinner is in the oven, and I peek in on B. This is what I found:



Note: She was wearing a shirt when I left her. ...And people wonder why such an easy, happy kid can still wear me out!

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Livin' On A Prayer...

I recently filmed a priceless moment between B and her bff Austin. A glimpse into their future, perhaps? A young married couple, trying to survive life with a new baby*, yet hopelessly entrenched in stereotypical gender roles. Notice Austin is trying to pitch in and vacuum, but really all he wants to do is drink.

Sigh. We parents have a lot of teaching to do over the next 16 years...


*No real babies were harmed in the making of this film. Austin's new brother, Oliver, was safely with his mother at the time.

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