Monday, June 14, 2010

Most awesome sous chef ever

Brian was out so I was the one giving Adriana her bath. I got out the conditioner.

Me: This smells sweet. You're going to smell like a jelly bean when we're finished.
Adriana: I like jelly beans. We should have jelly beans for dinner sometime.
Me: That sounds like wishful thinking. Jelly beans aren't for dinner.
Adriana: Yes they are! I had them for dinner in London.
Me: Don't be silly.
Adriana: But I did! With Abigail!
Me: Oh, you mean beans and toast? Those are baked beans, not jelly beans.
Adriana: But...jelly goes on toast.


***


Adriana was watching me pull vegetables out of the refrigerator.

Adriana: What are we making for dinner tonight?
Me: Ratatouille, and I think some bulgur.
Adriana: Bulgur?
Me: Yes.
Adriana: No.
Me: Yes. You like it. It's been awhile since we had it, but I know you like it. It's like rice.
Adriana: Bulgur?
Me: Bulgur.
Adriana: No. I don't like bulgur. Bulgur is yucky. I don't think bulgur is for eating.
Me: Of course it is. [I get the bag from the refrigerator and hand it to her.] You see? It's a grain, like rice is. We boil water and pour this in and then just let it sit.
Adriana: And...it didn't come out of anyone's nose?

Friday, June 11, 2010

Adriana and I both sometimes have bad reactions to mosquitoes, with the bites swelling up to . . . well, a ping pong ball would probably be an exaggeration, but still. They get big. They make you look deformed. Especially if you end up with two on your face, the way Adriana did this week--one on her right eye and one on her left cheek. I gave her some benadryl on Wednesday night to help bring down the swelling, but by the time I was taking her to summer camp on Thursday morning things still looked pretty bad. But in a way it was a nice test because I could begin to divide other mothers into three categories:

  1. Those who look appalled when you compare your own child's appearance to that of Sloth from Goonies.
  2. Those who find the comparison apt and funny.
  3. Those who don't know what you're talking about.

Guess which are my favorite.

Monday, June 07, 2010

Adriana's birthday greetings for Great Grandpa Ed

Brian's grandfather is turning 96 this week. Adriana made him a card and dictated this letter to me:

Dear Great Grandpa Ed,

96 is a big number. I go to gymnastics on Wednesday. Wednesday is your birthday. I go to summer camp all by myself. Next year I get to go to a school with rabbits and chickens and turtles and a dragon. I like chasing pigeons in Spain. I have a blue scooter and a baby sister. My favorite things are mermaids, butterflies, bicycles, cupcakes, pink and yellow, vanilla, climbing things, and my mom. I don't like juice.

Happy birthday.

Love,
Adriana

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

Five months

Lyra is ever the happy baby. She smiles at anyone who smiles at her, and chuckles when I bounce her on my lap. We tickle her, too much probably, because we like to hear her laugh. She isn't a baby who never cries, but when she does, it's usually not for long and she is easily soothed with singing or snuggling or milk.

I don't remember noticing Adriana become social, although I do recall that she would smile at herself in the mirror. Lyra does that, of course, but she also just seems fascinated with people in general. She watches everything we do, and loves it when people talk to her. At the library last week Adriana got out a board book with photos of baby faces, and Lyra seemed to be paying attention to the pictures and smiling back at the babies in the book as we showed it to her. And I've noticed that when she is nursing she wants my attention. If I am reading or writing while she nurses, she keeps stopping and fussing and wiggling and grabbing at my face, but when I stop everything else and just look at her and talk to her, she settles down and looks at me and nurses.

She wants to move, and can roll easily across a bed now, so I am careful where I set her down. When I set her on her playmat she occasionally reaches up and pulls on the toys, but she usually rolls over onto her belly and lies there kicking and wiggling, as if swimming. She grasps my fingers and lets me pull her up to stand, and she can sit unsupported for a few seconds before she topples over to the side.

Lyra's sleeping and eating are starting to become more organized, or would be if she weren't the second child and always being toted somewhere. If we're just at home, I can predict pretty easily now when she'll sleep and for how long and when she's going to need to nurse. But we go out to the park or need to get errands done before we meet a friend at the library or have to go to preschool, and so the sleeping baby is woken up as I take her down to the car or she nods off to sleep because I am walking quickly with her in the wrap, or I know she's tired and would probably fall asleep if I would just let her nurse for comfort but first I have to help Adriana get ready.

Lyra already adores her older sister. It's hard to feed the baby when Adriana is in the room, because Lyra keeps turning to see what Adriana is doing. Adriana jumps on our bed, and Lyra watches with big eyes and her mouth open in delight, squealing when Adriana bounces closer. And no one can get the baby to laugh more easily. Watching their relationship form is one of the best parts of this.