Category Archives: personal

February 23, 2011 · 6:00 PM

Dear Coraline: Month 5

Dear Coraline,

As of 1AM this morning, you turned five months old. You continue to gain weight (approximately 16 1/2 lbs. as of today) and grow bigger by the day, coming very close to filling out clothes sized six months. This past month has been really great in that your personality is starting to shine through. You smile readily whenever you see any of your family, particularly when your cousins perform like circus monkeys for your entertainment. And you are such a happy baby. Everyone comments on that (and your luxurious mane of fine baby hair) — how you have such a sweet, wonderful personality already.

You’ve slept through the night four times this month (nights 137 and 142), including two nights in a row as of last night (nights 151-152). And, yes, Mommy is still counting your age by the day (your first Valentine’s Day was day 144). You’re quite the stomach sleeper, often rolling over from your back before we’ve even finished turning off your light. Your big discovery this month: your thumb. You don’t suck your thumb for very long when you do, but as soon as it makes its way to your mouth we know you’re getting sleepy. You also do it sometimes when you’re getting hungry, but you usually indulge when you’re getting drowsy, your right hand making its way to your mouth, index finger pointing straight up along your nose. 

We bought you an exersaucer for our house after seeing you just about projectile launch yourself out of the one at your abuelo and abuela’s house. You LOVE bouncing around in it like a little nut. You still really enjoy your gym, particularly all the loose toys and rattles we put out for you to play with. Basically, they all end up in your mouth. Your silver Nambe rattle and Henrietta the Hippo rattle seem to be favorites, as well as your star teething ring. 

By far my favorite development this month has been your giggle. You first giggled on day 132, after I’d tickled your belly for a bit. Your giggle is quite possibly the most magical sound I’ve ever heard and it never fails to make me happy. We still have to work a bit to get you to giggle; you don’t just spontaneously laugh at anything, but it’s worth the effort we put in to hear you giggle and see you smile. As of right now, you respond the most to zerberts on your belly and me pretending to eat your cheeks while saying “nom nom nom nom” in an exaggerated manner (like there’s any other way to do it). You also giggle when we tickle your sides and say “coochie coochie coo.” It’s awesome.

The biggest development this month? One we didn’t expect this early: your first tooth. And then your second tooth. I first noticed your bottom left incisor last Tuesday, day 145. I noticed a flash of white along your bottom gum, called your poppa to come see, and sure enough, we felt the razor-like edge of your first tooth. Which we realized probably explained your Sunday night meltdown (night 143) — you were probably experiencing severe teething pains. You almost never cry for no reason, like you seemingly did that night, so for that we apologize and now have Baby Orajel on hand to soothe you when you do. You can imagine our surprise when we noticed you had a second tooth coming in just days after your first one (day 148), your lower right incisor. You’re quite the little overachiever, teething on the early end of the scale.


You’re also thisclose to sitting up. Which is but one of the countless reasons I can’t wait to see what month six brings.

love, 


Mommy

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February 21, 2011 · 1:53 PM

Heavy Things

Song Lyric of the Day:

Things are falling down on me / Heavy things I could not see / When I finally came around / Something small would pin me down / When I try to step aside / I move to where they’d hoped I’d be 

So I disappeared for a while, huh? I let the stress I’ve been under really get to me. I caved and retreated into myself like I typically do. Who knows, maybe I was a hermit crab in a former life. It’s a bad habit I have — when the going gets rough, I cut myself off from my friends and family. Just seems easier to me for some reason. Not necessarily healthier or better, just easier. But I’m doing my best to bounce back, get back out there both literally and metaphorically. We’ll see how it goes.

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January 31, 2011 · 11:00 AM

Unfriendly

Song Lyric of the Day:


And you never say “hey” / Or remember my name / It’s probably cause / You think you’re cooler than me


Mike Posner / “Cooler Than Me“

Pardon me, but it’s time to vent a bit.
I unfriended you/won’t friend you on Facebook because:
  • I don’t think you’ve changed
  • even though we’ve grown apart in the decades we’ve known each other, you didn’t bother congratulating me on the birth of my daughter
  • you were unfailingly cruel throughout your relationship and subsequent breakup
  • you’re not who I thought you were
  • I don’t know you well enough to let you virtually into my life
  • I’m not mean/bitchy enough for you
  • you don’t give me the time of day when we see each other in person
  • you give me the heebie-jeebies
  • a Facebook “friendship” isn’t as indicative of a real friendship as you think it is
  • you didn’t even notice I unfriended you, which told me all I need to know
 There. I feel better now.

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January 27, 2011 · 7:00 AM

Is It Friday Yet?

Song Lyric of the Day:

I see a sunbeam comin’ down / I know it’s you by your footsteps on the ground

Oy vey, this has been such a long week. Not long in a bad sense but long in a busy sense. Work’s been super busy, which is good since it makes the days go quickly (not to mention job security), but I’ve been popping antacids like they’re candy as a result. Stress and I go together like Charlie Sheen and hookers: It’s inevitable and will eventually put one of us in the hospital. I was also stressing about last night’s Relay for Life 2011 Kickoff at the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, which is a big deal for raising awareness of and generating interest in our community events. It went great and now I can focus my Relay efforts on fundraising (donate to me here), but I wish I could’ve helped with the setup more than I was able to. Work has to come first, though. Gotta keep that leaky roof over our heads.

The rotunda in the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame

Now that it’s the weekend I can try to relax a bit and focus on spending time with Coraline and maybe — finally — getting some of the hundreds of pictures I’ve taken of her since her birth added to my Flickr albums. Don’t hold your breath, though. My intentions are like my attention span right now: fleeting (Squirrel!).

Really, I’ll just be happy to get some sleep.

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January 23, 2011 · 8:15 PM

Dear Coraline: Month 4

Dear Coraline,
As of 1AM this morning, you turned four months old. You’ve grown leaps and bounds this month, weighing in at just over 14 pounds and fitting into clothes sized three to six months (closer to the three still) and size 2 diapers (albeit closed very tightly). Your poppa and I think you’re more interactive than ever. You smile very easily and have a quasi-giggle when something amuses (or tickles) you; a real giggle is just around the corner, I’m sure. You seem to know who family is, smiling readily whenever you see your grandparents, aunts, uncle, and your cousins. You love to observe everything happening around you, from the cats walking by to the dogs wrestling to us cooking in the kitchen.
You celebrated your first Christmas when you were 93 days old. Of course, being as little as you are, you didn’t really notice much except the Christmas tree lights and star. Oh, how you loved the star on top of the tree. Your poppa and I (along with the rest of your family) really enjoyed shopping for Christmas gifts for you, even though you didn’t really notice what you got. Still, just having you around this year made it our best Christmas ever (having the first white Christmas in recent memory only added to how special the day was). Just think how much more fun this year’s Christmas will be, though, since you’ll be able to help unwrap your presents.

For some reason, I find myself keeping track of how old you are not by weeks but by days. Although at the rate you’re changing and discovering new things, it’s getting harder to keep track of the days. Still, on day 99 you celebrated your first New Year’s Eve with us and a handful of friends, all of whom enjoyed meeting you for the first time. The first day of the new year, day 100, you napped in your crib for the first time ever. You took to it like a fish takes to water, probably because you’d outgrown your bassinet and a real mattress made a big difference in the quality of your sleep. On day 108, you spent your first full night in your very own room, a milestone that was bittersweet for me. I was happy to see you take to your crib and your room, but I missed (and still miss) having you only a few feet away from me in our bedroom. Lucky me, our walls are thin enough that we can hear whenever you need us even without the baby monitor.

You enjoy being read to these days. This month we’ve read through all your board books as well as some classics, like Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who and The Cat in the Hat (you much preferred the latter). You’ve started rubbing your eyes when you get sleepy. You reach out to touch my and your poppa’s faces when we hold you or feed you. You grasp one of our fingers and move it up and down while you eat. You love eating rice cereal in your milk even though you slap the spoon away when we try to give it to you out of a bowl (you first tried it on day 104). You love sitting on your poppa’s or my lap when we’re on our computers (although we try not to do that too often). You love kicking around on your little gym and grabbing at the toys hanging from it, especially the panda and the blue igloo teething ring.

You even hit a couple of major milestones this week. This past Tuesday night (day 117-118) marked the first time you slept through the whole night. That Wednesday afternoon, you rolled over from your back onto your stomach during an afternoon nap. I went in to calm you down when you started hollering; I think you startled yourself that first time and didn’t quite know what to do once you were on your tummy. Now, just a few days later, you roll over in the blink of an eye and have turned into quite the stomach sleeper. This afternoon your poppa and I got a huge kick out of watching you roll onto your tummy then back onto your back within a matter of minutes. It’s the little moments like that, with all of us hanging out on our bed, that make everything we do for you worthwhile. That, and your million-dollar smile. I can’t wait to see what month five brings.

love,

Mommy

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January 19, 2011 · 1:00 PM

Trying Not to Drown on Dry Land

Song Lyric of the Day:

Oh it tears me up / I tried to hold on but it hurts too much / I tried to forgive but it’s not enough / To make it all okay

I’ve been doing my best to stay positive of late. Our A-frame in South Knoxville has still not sold, Coraline’s fighting nursing, our roof is leaky, people close to me have ruined their relationships, reality shows continue to take over TV, etc. Even something as mundane as work computer problems yesterday felt like another nail in the proverbial coffin. Last night I curled up under my Slanket and had a good cry. I’m doing a lot better today, so that’s good.
No matter what stresses we’re dealing with these days, at least we had a good long holiday weekend. Saturday Coraline’s Grandma Carol and Grandpa Doug came over for awhile, followed by our good friend and Coraline’s honorary aunt, Tamara. After the grandparents left, Tamara joined Rich and I for two games of Settlers of Cataan. Guess who didn’t win no matter how competitive she got? Someday I will win at that damn game. I’ll be sure to shout it from the rooftops when I do. Sunday we went over to our new neighbors’ house, where I finally got to formally meet the mom and her three sons. I won’t say Coraline was flirting with the boys, but let’s just say she certainly enjoyed the attention. After that, errands and then some downtime.
Monday we finally took down the Christmas tree and decorations. I insisted on keeping them up that long since Coraline got so many (eight? nine?) Christmas outfits I wanted to take photos of her in front of the tree wearing some of them. Because that’s what being a mom is all about: dressing your baby up for your own amusement.

As crappy as some things have been lately, Coraline never fails to cheer me up without even trying. And last night she hit a milestone: She slept through the whole night!

The part you can’t see says “Just ask Grandma.”
Coraline Claus reporting for duty

You know I really can’t sit up in this thing, right?

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January 12, 2011 · 2:00 PM

All Aboard the Baby Night Terror Train

Song Lyric of the Day:

Sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare / Somebody pinch me, your love’s too good to be true / (Turn the lights on)

No sooner had we gone to bed last night than Coraline woke up to be changed and fed. It was Rich’s turn to check on her; within minutes of him heading to her room, I heard her screaming like I’ve never heard her scream before. When I got to her room, Rich was trying to console her, to no avail. I tried to calm her, also to no avail. Based on the sheer terror she was exhibiting, we figured she had to be experiencing night terrors. According to BabyCenter, babies don’t experience night terrors until the age of about nine months, but we’re stumped as to what else it could have been. Anyone else out there experience anything like this with their almost-four-month-old? She was looking at us, but it was like she didn’t see us. Nothing we did calmed her down: holding her, rocking her in her glider, walking down the hall with her. She screamed so loudly she even set off the glass-break sensor, setting off our house alarm in the middle of the night. This went on for almost a half hour. We finally got her calm enough to lay her down in her crib again; she slept for a few hours after that, probably out of sheer exhaustion. I’m cautiously optimistic that it won’t happen again tonight, but we’ll see. Fingers crossed we all have a better night tonight than we did last night.

Saying her bedtime prayers

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January 11, 2011 · 7:00 AM

Snowbound (Day 2)

Song Lyric of the Day:
We need more lovin’ / We need more money, they say / Change is gonna come, like the weather / They say forever, they say / So baby, in between / Notice the blue skies / Notice the butterflies / Notice me

Today is the second day Rich, Coraline, and I are snowbound. That big snow predicted for the other day? We got a measly 1 1/2″ at our house. Now, the snow that fell Sunday night into Monday morning? That dumped 4″ on us here at our house and kept us indoors all day. Enough snow fell across Knoxville that work called a snow day for the first time in my almost five years with the company, news which had me as giddy as the kids of Knox County (who don’t have school again today) undoubtedly were, too. Other than taking care of Coraline, you know what I did all day? I napped. That’s it. (And that’s why there wasn’t a Snowbound {Day 1} post.) Took care of Miss Baby and napped under my Slanket. Pretty good day, I have to say.
As of right now, work is scheduled to open at 10:30AM today, but Rich and I can’t safely get out of our neighborhood, so we’ll be working from home. When you can’t see the road in front of your house for all the snow, live at the top of a big hill, and no one in your neighborhood has come or gone since Sunday evening, you’re pretty much stuck. (And neither the Tundra nor the Xterra has four-wheel drive.)

Rich and I get along pretty well when stuck together at home like this. However, if we can’t get out tomorrow, pay attention. If you start seeing posts here that seem to have been written in tongues (or by the pets) or photos that look like stills from Dawn of the Dead or “All work and no play make Pattie go crazy” typed over and over and over, you’ll know we’ve finally snapped and finally developed cabin fever.

*I’m going to try to post some snow pics later today, but for some reason iPhoto is not displaying the latest uploaded photos. Why? Because technology hates me, that bitch.

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January 7, 2011 · 10:03 AM

Snowpocalypse Nowish and Barfy Boots

Song Lyric of the Day:

Let the time time pass / ‘Cause we’re never getting old

Enrique Iglesias (featuring Pitbull) / “I Like It”

We here in Knoxville and the surrounding areas are waiting for this alleged big snow that’s heading our way. I say alleged because, as anyone who lives here knows, the forecast changes almost hour-to-hour when you live in the Tennessee Valley. It’s always a given that the Smokies will get snow, but for the rest of us it’s almost always a crapshoot. The forecast is calling for anywhere from 2-5″ falling here in Knoxville. I’ll believe it when I see it. And photoblog it again if I do (El Troubacabra loves playing in the snow, and I love photographing him in it.)

Of course, just to be safe, I need to throw my water-resistant boots in the wash tonight so they’ll be ready to wear; they’re these cute Ralph Lauren Polo Sport boots I bought on clearance at DSW in Virginia Beach a few years ago. You see, when I went outside the other day to take pictures of that snow, I made it maybe two feet into the backyard before stepping into dog poop. (I know, I know — my fault for not doing regular sweeps for land mines.) Anyhoo, I cleaned the affected boot as much as I could on the grass and came inside, leaving my boots on the rug in the sunroom for a bit intending to finish cleaning it up later. Fast forward to a few hours later when Caleb started to get sick in the living room. I herded him and we ran to the sunroom as fast as we could so he could get outside before he barfed. Well, we didn’t quite make it. No sooner were we in the sunroom than Caleb slipped on the wood floor, stumbled onto the rug and bleccccrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhed right on and into my boot. The boot that didn’t have poop on it. The clean boot. I’m pretty sure the expletive I yelled is still bouncing around in space, I yelled so loud. Caleb then managed to make it outside in time to barf up about a teaspoon’s worth of yak on the deck. Meanwhile, about a gallon was soaking on and in my boot. Not to mention the splashback that hit the other boot.

I won’t even get into the expletives I yelled later that night when my cat Belle managed to projectile vomit off the side of the leather sofa and still hit the leather. At least I moved her just in the nick of time when she was going to be sick again, right after she went and sat on Coraline’s gym and began to gag. Just another night at home with the Lee pets, I suppose.

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January 4, 2011 · 11:00 AM

The Home Library

Song Lyric of the Day:

Build a story in my head / It was love before we met / Happy, with my idea with you
Rich and I finally decided to start sharing pics of our new house. We held off on doing so since we were superstitious that our A-frame wouldn’t sell. Well, months later with nary a nibble on the A-frame we’ve pretty much decided screw that, and here we are.
When we moved into our new house about six months ago, my dad commented that it would take Coraline about 40 years to read through all the books we had. See, moving day was when my and Rich’s love of books bit us in the ass — there were countless boxes packed full of books all over the place. Well, we’ve only added to our collection since then, trading in used books for new titles at McKay, buying new ones at Borders or Barnes & Noble, or receiving books as gifts (always a win-win situation). Fortunately, our new house has built-in bookcases, something I used to fantasize about having. Of course, once I had them, I started obsessively thinking about how to arrange and organize our books. Would I move the fiction hardcovers out of my office? Put my children’s books downstairs? Mix nonfiction with reference? What should take the shelves of honor in the living room? So many decisions, so many damn books. (See, this is what happens when you are either 1) a librarian or 2) spent years working in retail bookstores like I did). First, I had to make heads or tails of the stacks of book boxes everywhere.

Far end of the living room.
More boxes in the dining room. Not pictured: the book boxes all over the rest of the house, including the ones that filled Coraline’s then-empty room.
Then I had to decide which bookcases would house which books. I ultimately decided that the bookcases with the taller adjustable shelves, at the dining room end of the living room, would house oversized art, home decorating, and home improvement books. The bookcases flanking the TV cabinet with shorter, adjustable shelves would be home to nonfiction, trade paperback fiction, young adult, and children’s picture books. Hardcover fiction would stay in my office, while art instruction/technique books would move down to Rich’s office. These decisions came after I changed my mind about 50 times, including rearranging everything and bugging Rich for his opinion I don’t know how many times. Before I could start organizing books, however, I had to clear the shelves of all the stuff we’d thrown on them when we first unpacked; that process alone took days.
The bookcases flanking the TV cabinet.
Caleb slinks by the still-in-the-works bookcase organization project in my office on his way to the sunroom.
The bookcases at the dining room end of the living room; the right bookcase is the one I started on first.


Closeup of my first efforts at organizing the art books.


First pass on the art books, with coffee table and home improvement books on the bottom shelves; these books ultimately all ended up on the left bookcase.

Regardless of Rich’s suggestions, I alphabetized the children’s books instead of arranging them based on size. Him making such a crazy suggestion shows that he 1) doesn’t know me at all or 2) knows me pretty damn well and that such a suggestion would drive me crazy. Which it did.

My finished children’s book bookcases, with young adult on the left, picture books on the right. Keep in mind all of Coraline’s books are still in her room.


Closeup of the picture books. That’s Coraline’s nursery video monitor on the second shelf.


The fiction hardcover books in my office. I’m still not done sorthing them.




The bookcases to the left of the TV cabinet. The bottom shelves on each side are still in the works and hold currently unsorted books.
Now you have some (undoubtedly) scary insight into how I get when I go on an organizational bender, particularly how I deal with sorting books. Want to know what’s really scary? I still have a whole bookcase on the dining room end to fill. Bwahahahaha!

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