Props to Poison Control

1 800 222-1222...a number I don't have on speed dial, but one I should. Ella was caught red-handed this afternoon with her fingers in her mouth and floral scented breath. She had sampled her father's shampoo. A quick rinse-out and a sprint to the laptop got us to safety. The kind nurse on the other end of the line assured us that all was well. The whole experience reminded me of getting my mouth washed out with soap as a histrionic pre-teen. What would Poison Control say? I'm confident that phone calls were made just in between my use of foul language and the implementation of my punishment ; )

Games We Play

Milton Bradley has some serious competition. Ella has devised the following games for good, old fashioned, one-year-old fun.
1. Grab the Poo
Number of Players: 2-3
Rules: As Mommy, Daddy (or both) attempt to change your diaper, quickly reach down with one hand and attempt to grab your excrement. Dodge pesky adults as they try to ruin your fun. Make sure to get enough in your nails so that parents worry about e-coli.
2. Dial Long Distance
Number of Players: 2-3
Rules: Wait until caregiver is trying to wash the dishes, prepare your meal, fold your laundry, etc. Grab the cordless phone and start pressing as many numbers as possible. Hit "talk". See how long it takes caregiver to notice. Watch as they look dismayed while frantically going through the phone bill.
3. Eat the Candles
Number of Players: 1
Rules: Do not eat your lunch or dinner, turn your head at all things nutritious and edible. Once meal time is over, proceed to fireplace and eat the candles.
4. Climb the Stairs
Number of Players: 2-3
Rules: Watch Mommy take out the garbage and recyclables and load up the car with your diaper bag, her work bag, coffee, etc. Once out of eye-line, unhinge the child-safety gate (ha) and start climbing down the basement steps to the concrete below. Watch as Mommy suffers a stroke as she reenters the home seconds later and sees you perched precariously over skull fracture's door.
5. Computer Time
Number of Players: 2
Rules: Wait until Mommy or Daddy have their laptop out and are trying to construct an important work email. Bang on keys with dirty banana hands and scream bloody murder when laptop is closed. Bonus points awarded if keys are jammed.
6. Throw the Plate
Number of Players: 2
Rules: Watch as Mommy and Daddy dance around the kitchen as short-order cooks and prepare healthy meal. Receive plate of fresh, organic delectibles. Immediately throw plate on the ground.
7. Buck the Car Seat
Number of Players: The More the Merrier
Rules: Wait until there is a large crowd of parents, teachers and students in the daycare lobby. Allow parent to put on coat and hat. Pitch a fit of epic proportions when parent attempts to put you in car seat. Thrash wildly, arching your back in protest.
8. Destroy the Glasses
Number of Players: 2
Rules: Wait until parent is in a vulnerable or preoccupied position. Reach towards face and grab at $400 glasses. Threaten destruction. Evade blinded parent.
9. Giggle
Number of Players: 2-3
Rules: Laugh and smile at any silly little thing. Melt Mommy and Daddy's heart instantly.

"CompetiMommy"

I do not want to be that parent. The one with a developmental checklist in her head, sizing up the other Oak Park toddlers, seeing how her daughter stacks up. Comparing resumes with the other parents at the park. In fact, this type A prides herself on consciously trying to be more of a type B mom. I allow grass, dirt, leaves and other organic substances to enter into my child's mouth without much angst. My philosophy is to steer her away from all things poisonous and things that may show up in a radiology grand-rounds (i.e. coins, paperclips, cell phones, etc). I allow her to scrape across the local greenhouse floor in her leggings collecting an assortment of outdoor souvenirs. I figure a load of laundry is a small price to pay for the curiosity and confidence she continues to build. Her nose runs like Niagara and I let it. Ella is not enrolled in the local Slavic Language Group nor does she belong to the Oak Park Gregorian Chanters Club. She does know her way around our dusty fireplace though. Cardboard boxes and toilet paper rolls continue to fascinate. She is also really adept at staring at strangers.
Don't get me wrong, embracing Type B is a struggle. It is a continuous battle to maintain mommy sobriety. There are times where I fall off the wagon...in fact the wagon is down the road. But I try. Next step towards healing: Quit the self flaggelation over frozen chicken nuggets.

Post-postmodern Feminism

One can look at the pictures above in one of two ways:
1. Ella is already fallen victim to society's definition of femininity. She is sporting restrictive clothing, is encumbered with child and learning that beauty is her only currency. What would Hillary say?
or
2. She can be royalty, a parent, a fashion icon, built of grit and character with keen intellectual abilities. Ella is learning that the very meaning of being female can be as complex and diverse as she chooses.

Today's exercise in dress-up made me pause. What message am I sending our daughter when I shun something stereotypically feminine? Is wearing pink akin to joining a cult? Is playing dress up with Baby Wetsy all that terrible? The girl will likely be trying to decode enough of society's mixed messages. She doesn't need her mother closing one more door for her. So I am starting to come to grips with the notion that my daughter just might like an Easy Bake Oven for Christmas. I'm sure she won't mind that it comes with a high-powered telescope and karate lessons.

A big thank you to Aunt Mandy, Aliza and Alec for this afternoon life lesson via dress up trunk.

Bathing Beauty

Nothing evokes happiness like bath-time. Ella makes sure that all are able to partake in the fun and her father and I leave the bathroom feeling like we got caught in a monsoon. Most recently she'll run her hands over her hair with the shampoo preening like a parakeet. This kids got personality.

Morning Glory

Some people wake to the sun peaking through their windows, others to a clock radio. Jerry and I wake to the dramatic intentions of a one year old ready to start her day (and ours).
*This picture was quickly snapped as I walked in this morning. Rest assured, no excessive mental torment was involved in taking this picture.

Home on Home

Once the house is under contract and the boxes are being loaded on to the truck, our chapter involving 832 Home will come to a close. Before the whirl-wind commences further, I wanted to take a few minutes to remember some of the finer moments at this address. Aside from the biggies, a wedding and birth of a baby, this house has been a respite from the day to day. Jerry and I have found ourselves sitting on the front steps and porch trying to make sense of our jobs. We've spent hours on our back patio eating charred meat after another fruitless attempt at grilling. We've had countless visits from the neighborhood cat, sunning himself on our property (see picture above). We've endured, I mean enjoyed, numerous block parties. I will miss lying awake listening to the sun porch windows slamming themselves shut in a winter storm. I will miss the hum of the street light over our back alley as dusk sets in. I will even miss the creaky stairs that wake our poor napping daughter every time we try to use our one and only bathroom. The sound of the "eL" pulling into Oak Park Avenue reminds me of how wonderfully close we are to the city. It's been a wonderful five years but looking forward to seeing how the next chapter unfolds.

Parent Teacher Conference: Take 2

The teachers at Concordia, Ms. Sabine and Ms. Alice, were kind enough to offer us a re-do. I felt like most parents probably do when they enter into a conversation regarding their child's development...a bit guarded. What conclusions have they drawn from their assessments? What if all of my pride surrounding Ella's sociability and cognition were delusions? What if they saw her as a run-of-the-mill kid? Worse yet, one that warrants professional help? Fears were quickly laid to rest as her teachers described a confident, trusting, active, curious, inquisitive, take-charge little girl. She was also described as a "thinker". Ms. Alice reports that Ella seems to take in and process activities that are typically too "adult like" for children her age. We were encouraged not to limit her. My hope is that the next seventeen years of parent-teacher conferences go as smoothly as Monday night's meeting. Ella's school experience gets a passing grade so far.

Life with Realtors

Although it is only our 2nd day of officially being on the market I am already growing weary. There is something about the combination of a clean home and an active one year old that isn't quite gelling. Jerry and I are hovering shadows; watching Ella's every move. Constantly picking up half digested grapes, lunch meat, Kleenex and the like. I laugh that never in my life have I cleaned so much and had the house so dirty. Living in our house at the moment is a bit surreal. It doesn't even seem like it belongs to us anymore. We sit on our couch in our newly staged home and look over at our fireplace and it's advertisements created by the realtor, "Cozy up with a wood-burning fireplace". It's almost like we should take the hint and build a fire. Truth be told, we only did it once. The hassle of clean up outweighed any romantic notions of a cozy fire.
I've started my co-dependent, roller coaster ride of a relationship with homes on the market. I've started falling in and out of love with a variety of locations and houses. I've weighed the pros and cons of neighborhoods, space, school districts, price and land. Do I opt of the postage sized home and yard, landlocked town with neighbors that think and act like me or move to the sprawling greens of the western suburbs and risk having a neighbor that voted for you know who? So much to consider. I rest assured that no matter what we select we will make it our home and make every effort to expose our little Ella to whatever it is she is missing, be it open space or the Democratic party.

Look Who's Cooking?

A family cookbook is one of my latest ideas to add to the long list of projects. I was inspired this Christmas when my dad presented me with a book entitled "Faith-ful Recipes" from the women of Faith Lutheran Church in Brookfield, Illinois. This 1974 book of recipes included Grandma Karela's recipes for Cornflake Cookies, Date Ball Cookies and Chocolate-filled Snowball Cookies. Her nickname, Cookie Grandma, is now very obvious. In the coming years I hope to gather recipes and take pictures of the wonderful dishes that shape Ella's childhood. I know this will include Mimi's lasagna and Lola's chicken adobo. Food can be so complex. It defines an era, describes a culture and captures memories. Recipes get lost, altered by time and with that stories are ended. I got to thinking about this as I waded through the many Faith-ful recipes. So what does casserole say about 1970's? Can there be an equivalent in the millennium? Will jello molds find their place again? One can hope.

Ella's Oeuvre - Picasso Ain't Got Nothin

Last night the ominous plastic bag hung from Ella's hook in the Concordia cubby. This can mean one of two things: Blow out or art supply exploration. Lucky for us it was the latter. What was described to me as "full body painting" took on new meaning as I saw the 3x4 foot masterpiece that hung from the classroom wall. She was apparently painting with not only her brush, but her feet, hands and bottom. Proud Papa already has earnest plans to frame and display her work. Later in the day, when her teachers were organizing the art closet, Ella caught a glimpse of the paint which reportedly sent her into happy hysterics. I can imagine her hands held outright bobbing up and down, a visible shiver running through her body and the grunt she gives to voice her wanting. I don't know if I'm describing her excitement with much accuracy. I've seen it from time to time and it's electric. I'm so glad to have some of this electricity on paper. As the saying goes a picture is worth a thousand words and to this mama her picture says it all.

Three Cheers for Cheerios!

In the culinary world of a toddler there are a few "greats". In Ella's world, there are even fewer. Current go-tos include blueberries, bananas, garden burgers, and Cheerios. After recently checking out "First Meals" by Annabel Karmel at our local library I started to wonder (worry is more accurate) about Ella's iron intake. Anemia, scurvy, gout, what other weird eighteenth century deficiency diagnosis could she have? A glance at her box of Cheerios one morning set my mind at ease. A mere 1cup of Cheerios provides 50% of her daily iron intake. This girl can put away at least 1 cup of the oh-so-delicious "o"s.

The Good, the Bad and the Impractical

The previous entry got me thinking about the simple stand-bys like Cheerios. I also got to thinking about the marketing geniuses behind the millions of products being sold in baby superstores such as Babies R Us and Buy Buy Baby (the name says it all, doesn't it?). The marketing blitz is working and millions of parents are buying in. Below are some musings on what I consider helpful, wasteful and frivolous but fun during the first year.
Items in the category of wonderful things baby:
1. Right Start toothbrush - at $7 a pop a bit pricey, but Ella loves to brush her
teeth.
2. Swaddlers for those first few months
3. Cloth diapers - can't have too many
4. Kimono style shirts
Items in the over-rated (or "come on") category:
1. Shopping cart covers
2. Helmets to prevent injury for the recently mobile baby. Thudguard.com, "learning to walk in a world of hard sufaces".
3. Wipe warmers
4. Any type of unsightly diaper "champ" or "genie"...diapers smell regardless of
the receptacle. We use coal in our trash bin to absorb orders.
5. Auto mirror - I'm already much too distracted behind the wheel.
6. Changing Table - A piece of furniture dedicated to changing diapers? Yuck!
7. Diaper Bag - Just get a cute tote. No need to advertise that you are lugging
around poopy catchers.
Items in the totally frivolous but wonderful nonetheless category:
1. Baby leg warmers
2. Yo Baby Yogurt
3. 25 Hair Bows for a baby that prefers her hair messy. BTW, I always wondered how
my old classmates at U of I got those dreadlocks. They must have smeared banana
and avocado in it and let it dry. Ella is a hippy chick in the making.
4. Pacifier with "bling" - kid you not, Ella had one full of rhinestones. When you
are sleep deprived and your body is leaking foreign fluids, you need a few
laughs to keep you afloat.

I recently read "Parenting, Inc" by social critic, Pamela Paul. Interesting read about the marketing hype and baby boom of the millennium. In my eyes, a must read for new parents.

Parent Teacher Conference: Grade F

Last Tuesday, Jerry, Ella and I celebrated our parent-teacher conference with a pre-meeting treat at a local coffee shop. Full of croissants, tea and expectation we headed to Concordia. We enter and the school is quiet. Teachers are gone and the cleaning staff is hard at work. After some phone calls, some questioning and aggravation, we learned that we had missed our conference. It was Monday. I'm not going to lie, there were tears and guilt. How can I keep so much straight in the lives of my clients and not get this one thing right for my very own daughter? What would her teachers think? Happily, this emotional wound healed rather quickly. Ella got over it as well. I'm getting used to quick recoveries after beating myself up over something silly. Why do we do this? Just as my confidence had rebounded I had an impromptu meeting with her teacher on Friday. When pressed if she had any concerns about Ella's development she simply stated, "Ella has no problem attaching to strangers". This sent my mind reeling once again. Visions of eastern European orphanages came to mind. Kids yearning for attention from any warm body. Shame spiral commenced...nah, she's fine.

St. Patrick's Day Forest Park Style

The word "eclectic" comes to mind when mentioning Forest Park. From Ugg wearing yuppyites that have moved from Lincoln Park to tattooed, trailer connoisseurs that known their way around a Harley, this place has it all. At 12:30 p.m. we find ourselves at House Red, chatting with our favorite wine guru and selecting a pinot gris. At 12:50 we purchased a $2.00 Miller Lite "to go" from the wood paneled bar next door. The street was full of characters, all celebrating St. Patrick with gusto. Most had been celebrating hours before the parade. The torrential downpour as the parade ended sent the festivities back indoors. The local bar owners were doing a rain-dance, guaranteed. Don't let the pictures above fool you. She may look aloof and disinterested, if not bored by the crazy man in make-up but Ella enjoyed it all. The sirens, the female bagpipers, the beads and the local flavor.
p.s. Is it me or do the pictures above really solidify the notion that clowns are scary?

Pink Stuff

She's on the sauce...amoxicillan that is. With an ear infection, goopy eyes and a forever draining nose, Ella has joined the ranks of those snot nosed kids at daycare. Poor thing. The smell of medicinal bubble gum brought back memories for this mama. The sight of the sweet nectar was a highlight of my childhood (I obviously had limited access to sugary snacks). Ella on the other hand is not a fan. We have nine more days to win her over though.

Little House on the Market

We just met with our realtor last night to confirm the plan. With the market tanking, buyers have a firm upper hand and house prices are near bargain basement. Not the best time to sell but a great time to move up the real estate ladder, which is what we plan to do. No McMansion for us...just a bit more space.
As we plan this next step, one is forced to look around the house with a more discerning eye. The following step is to ask yourself, "Where did all this stuff come from?". I have a simple answer...my beloved. One of the things I love most about Jerry is his passion for life. His list of interests is as broad as it is deep. The downside to this is a basement full of odds and ends that accompany his hobbies: An old racket ball racket, pull-up bar, bobble head collection, receipts from Home Depot, souvenir cups, the list goes on and on. I can also point the finger at Ella. Sweet as pie, but boy that girl has big toys. As for me, never mind those two sets of dishes, collection of milk glass vases, a box of shoes for that "perfect occasion" and an overflowing collection of costume jewelry...those are necessities...plain and simple.
I am really looking forward to this next chapter in our lives. I realize saddling ourselves with a larger mortgage is quite a gamble. These days though, what isn't a gamble?

Pot stickers!

This morning I saw an acrobat at the circus, was part of an international spy ring and owner of a pet lizard named Slither. It's amazing the trip a four year old can take you on in a matter of an hour. Luckily for Ella, there was room on this trip for her and our four year old friend's twin sisters, Alana and Lila. Our international spy even had a code word for when she was spotted by her target (Mommy). She'd yell "potstickers" and run for cover as only a true spy would. Ella gleefully watched on, glad to be part of the action.