While opening Christmas stockings:
“Nickels? Two rolls of nickels?”
“I’m not very good at the stocking thing yet.”
“Clearly.”
Photoblogging: She Is … Sabrina Fierce
No sooner did I get out my camera than my niece decided to channel her alter ego, Sabrina Fierce. She’s one tough little cookie. (Photo taken 12/8/13)
Filed under baby, family, photoblogging, photography
The Girl With the Curl
Song Lyric of the Day:
Curly, curly hair / How I love my hair / How I simply want to brush my hair / I simply love my curly hair / I want to wash my curly hair
Hawkeye and Hoe / “Curli Hair“
I have a daughter with curly hair, the kind of curly hair with Shirley Temple-like spirals, that garners her lots of attention. It’s almost become the stuff of legend at this point. I exaggerate, of course, but not by much. Because outside of visits with family and friends, I have yet to take Coraline anywhere and not have people comment on her hair. People either comment directly to us or we hear whispers along the likes of “Look at that little girl’s curly hair!” as we pass by. If we got a dollar every time someone comments on her hair, we would already have a year’s worth of college tuition. At least.
Coraline had straight hair fresh out of the oven.
When Coraline was born, she had straight jet-black hair, very strongly resembling my Mexican maternal grandfather. Once her hair thinned out (don’t you just hate how babies’ hair does that?) it grew back in lighter. I remember the exact day it started to curl: It was the day of her cousin Stephen’s second birthday party. Coraline was about 6 1/2 months old. At first Rich and I thought Coraline’s hair had just curled/kinked up due to the humidity; Stephen’s party was an outdoor one on an unusually warm April day. But then her hair never uncurled.
Coraline’s hair at 13 months old, 6 1/2 months after her hair turned curly.
We have yet to take her for a haircut. Not because we’re afraid she’d lose the curl — so many people say that happens with the first haircut — because her curl is genetic. She gets it from Rich, her grandfather, her aunt, other distant relatives. Her curl isn’t going anywhere. We’ve held off on the first haircut because we wanted to see how her hair grew. And now we know: It curls so much that when we wash it, Cora’s hair reaches almost to her waist. But the curl is so strong it immediately begins curling up again once water passes through it, same as when I comb it out.
My hair is naturally wavy, but nowhere near curly like my daughter’s. A good friend recommended a book, Curly Girl: The Handbook by Lorraine Massey, so I could learn how to manage Coraline’s hair. Because if there’s one thing I want for my little Curly Sue regarding her hair, it’s that she loves and embraces it — and knows how to manage it. The book defines different types of curls; I think Coraline’s hair type leans toward Corkicelli curls. It reminds you that curly hair is not supposed to be washed daily (we wash Cora’s twice a week, more during sweaty summers). It also tells about the best kind of hair-care products for curly hair (botanical based and sulfate free), which led me to the California Baby brand. We use their Shampoo & Bodywash, Calendula Hair Conditioner, and Calming Hair Detangler. Bonus: Since it’s formulated for babies/kids, it’s tear-free. Not that that matters to Coraline. When it comes to having her hair washed, she only very recently stopped screaming like she was being waterboarded.
Spring curls, April 2013
One of my favorite things about Cora’s hair is how it holds its shape. And how it gets Gene Wilder crazy at the end of the day. She and I have a thing we do at bedtime: I take out her hair ties and barrettes and say, “Shake it out!” She shakes her head, knowing and enjoying how fluffy her hair gets. And while I’m not perfect when it comes to managing her hair, I try really, really hard to make sure she likes her hair, because I know so many women who don’t like their curly hair. A few have told me it goes back to their moms not knowing how to manage their hair. I’m trying hard not to be that mom, doing what I can to help Coraline and telling her all the time how beautiful her hair is (which, duh, it is). She’s really confident about her hair, and loves saying, “She has curly hair like me!” whenever we come across a girl or woman with similar hair. So, so far what I’m doing seems to be working. Fingers crossed that it continues to work.
Gene Wilder’s tiny hair double.
Now, when it comes to hairstyles that work with Coraline’s hair, well, that’s a work in progress. Another time, another post. Maybe.
See? Gorgeous curls, freshly washed.
Filed under coraline, personal, photography
Around Knoxville: Three Rivers Rambler
Song Lyric of the Day:
Come on, ride the train, it’s the Choo Choo train
Quad City DJ’s / “C’mon N’ Ride It (The Train)“
Knoxville has a short-line passenger train. Did you know this? Because I only discovered this recently. I’ve heard rumors the last couple of years, and then a few weeks ago my friend Meghan and her husband took their babies on the train, the Three Rivers Rambler. Meghan told me about the trip, which I then told Rich about, and we agreed that it would be fun to take Coraline on a train ride.
Coraline has wanted to ride a real train forever. It’s basically one of her lifelong dreams. (Did you know toddlers could have lifelong dreams? They can.) Thanks to my parents, Coraline’s ridden the little train at our local mall enough times to qualify as a part owner, so when we told her about REAL trains, her mind was blown.
Last Sunday, agendaless and looking to enjoy some quality family time, we told Coraline that we were going to take her on a REAL train ride. In typical fashion, she jumped up and down yelling “Yay!” which she manages to draw out like you would not believe. We packed her little backpack with snacks, Rich and I grabbed our cameras, and we headed down to Volunteer Landing to board the train.
Lindy, the Washington & Lincolnton #203 steam engine for the Three Rivers Rambler.
We quickly found seats facing each other, so we had a cozy seating arrangement. The seats also allowed me to keep my gimpy foot elevated during the 2-hour ride. (The website and conductor say 90 minutes, but ours took two hours including a couple of short stops.)
The atmosphere on the train was very friendly, festive thanks to some holiday decorations, and very family friendly — there were tons of families riding with us that day. Coraline loved everything about it, especially the fact that we could walk out onto the following open-air car while the train was moving (it goes really slow).
Coraline holds up her train ticket.
I of course took tons of pictures, with Rich handling Coraline-escorting duties; my foot was still pretty tender so hobbling around a(n albeit slowly) moving train with an excited 3-year-old was not on my slate for the day.
I did manage to hobble outside with Rich and Coraline a few times, with the beautiful views totally worth the effort. Not to mention Coraline’s sheer delight at BEING ON A REAL TRAIN. Sorry for the caps, but toddler enthusiasm is contagious. And awesome.
Crossing over the Holston River. Note the train’s shadow on the water.
We heard rumblings throughout the ride that a certain magical jolly fellow was going to be making an appearance. Just when Rich and I had given up hope that the big man would show, there he was. Coraline was giddy waiting for him to make his way back to us (we were in the next-to-last row on the last car). And even though she met Santa outside of the mall, she still told Rich that we needed to go see Santa again at the mall so she could tell him what she wants for Christmas. She is a true believer, after all.
Coraline with Santa Claus on the train, the perfect ending to our first family train ride.
Filed under around knoxville, coraline, family, family time, knoxville, personal
Scene From a Marriage #33,011
“And then we watched some Monsters vs. Aliens.”
“What?! Oh my God, I can’t believe you let her watch that!”
“Why not? She loves it.”
“Because it’s violent and scary, that’s why. Wait, that’s not right, is it?”
“Good grief. You’re thinking of Alien vs. Predator.”
“Oh. Yeah, I am. Whoops. Wrong movie.”
“Puh-leez. If I were going to have Coraline watch an action movie, it would at least be a good one.”
Filed under humor, marriage, relationship, scene from a marriage
Photoblogging: Coraline at Christmastime
Coraline poses by our Christmas tree in the dress she chose for the holidays this year (12/8/13).
Filed under coraline, personal, photoblogging, photography
A Long-Awaited Date With Santa
Song Lyric of the Day:
He’s making a list / And checking it twice / He’s gonna find out / Who’s naughty and nice / Santa Claus is coming to town
Fred Astaire / “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town“
Yesterday we took Coraline to visit Santa Claus at the mall. She’s been asking since January to see Santa again as he made quite the impression last December, so it’s been a long year of:
“Is Santa at the mall? Is he there yet?”
“When will Santa be back?”
“I don’t want to see the Easter Bunny! I don’t like the Easter Bunny! The Easter Bunny is friends with Santa?!?”
“When will Santa come back to the mall?”
“Is Santa at the mall again?”
“Mommy, I saw Santa at the mall! He waved at me!”
“I’m going to be brave and talk to Santa.”
“I get to go see Santa after Thanksgiving.”
“YAY! SANTA!!!”
Coraline hamming it up while waiting in line to meet Santa.
Since Cora’s been talking about Santa all year long, Rich and I figured she’d either go through with a solo visit like she’s been saying (“I’m going to be brave!”) or she’d end up choking at the last minute. She did us proud, though. She waved and yelled hi when Santa entered the courtyard and took his seat. Then when it was her turn, she held my hand on the way to Santa’s chair, happily swinging her free arm the whole way. Once in front of him, she smiled and said, “Hi, Santa.” I asked her if she was ready to sit down with him and if she was going to do it by herself. She said yes, I placed her on Santa’s lap, and my brave girl came through.
Coraline finally gets her moment with the man in the red suit.
I stayed close by since Rich and I are trying to get gift ideas out of her. Whenever we’ve asked what she was going to ask Santa for, she’d answer, “Christmas presents!” What kind of presents? “Toys!” So she hasn’t been terribly helpful there. Today, though, the first thing she asked for was books — she is her parents’ daughter, after all. When Santa asked which ones, I gently reminded her about the Ladybug Girl series and how she mentioned wanting Dora books. She also asked for princess dolls (there’s a big set at Target she’s got her eye on). The last thing she asked Santa for was “Blocks.” Then a few seconds later: “Legos!” Since Santa realized he wasn’t going to get too many specific requests out of her, he asked if she’d like surprise presents. You can imagine how excited she got at that prospect.
Coraline asking for books, princess dolls, and Lego blocks.
I think she would’ve hung out with Santa all day if it had been possible. She wished him a merry Christmas and we went on our way. Once we were a little ways away from the courtyard, she hollered, “I. SAW. SAN. TA!”
Coraline at home celebrating once again how brave she was when she saw Santa Claus.
I predict it’ll be maybe three days after Christmas before she asks, “When can I see Santa again?”
Thanksgiving 2013
This year I’m incredibly grateful for where I am in my life. I have a wonderful family and friends, my and my family’s health, and the means to help keep a roof over our heads and food on our table. Growing up I often took what I had for granted, so it’s important to me to be thankful for what I do have, something I hope to instill in Coraline, too. I hope you take a moment today to say a quick thanks for your lot in life, too.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Filed under personal
Scene From a Marriage # 32,349
After my pinky toe PIP reduction follow-up appointment:
“Want to see a picture? Look!”
Noticeably paling: “And this little piggy went ‘bleccccccch.'”
Filed under humor, marriage, relationship, scene from a marriage
Crutching
Song Lyric of the Day:
Don’t fail me, feets don’t fail me now
I’ve intermittently been using crutches since my toe lopping two weeks ago. Coraline coined a new verb a couple of days in when she said, “Mommy, I can hear you crutching down the hall.” Since then that’s how we’ve referred to my frequent and always completely graceless use of crutches. Because if ever there was something clumsy people were not meant to use, it’s those fancy medical walking sticks.
You know what’s worse than limping around after toe surgery? Using crutches. Turns out they’re an upper body workout: Two days in, my abs hurt, my neck hurt, my upper back hurt. I also ended up with a huge spot rubbed raw on my right ribcage. Which is weird since I put my weight on the left foot because my right foot is the one that got operated on. The palms of my hands also hurt because they were supporting so much of my weight. All of this is to say I said to hell with the crutches on Friday. They were more hassle and pain than it was worth, so now I’m just hobbling around on my feet. (Although I did use them some Sunday after overdoing the hobbling on Friday and Saturday.) I’ve been careful to stick to my doctor’s instructions and keep the weight on my heel, though, which has me walking around like Frankenstein’s daughter on a leisurely afternoon stroll.
I’ve also been about as graceful on crutches as Tucker (who faked needing them) in There’s Something About Mary.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/12752
Not a pretty sight, is it? Me using crutches is about on par with that. You know who else is happy to see me not use crutches? Caleb, the fearless wonder dog. He’d see me coming down the hall and haul ass as far away from me as possible. Poor guy wouldn’t even let me pet him if the crutches were so much as in reach. I didn’t know dogs could give the stink eye to inanimate objects until the last few days.
This morning I’m going to my most-anticipated follow-up appointment since my post-C-section one, and I hope my foot doc at least takes the bandages off. You wouldn’t think you’d need 75 or so layers of gauze for a toe surgery, but it turns out you do; all those layers make it harder to hobble since my foot is on a slant in my boot. I also hope to be cleared to drive again; poor Rich has been my on-call chauffeur since my surgery. Mostly, though, I want her to say my toe is healing perfectly since I’ve been an angel about following my post-op instructions: keeping it elevated as much as possible, sleeping with my boot on (so fun), keeping my foot elevated in bed while I sleep (so fun when I need to sleep on my side), and garbage-bagging my foot to keep the bandages and boot completely dry while I shower. Our old-man shower with the seat has earned its place in my heart these last couple of weeks. But this will all be worth it when I can effortlessly slip into and wear any of my pairs of shoes in a few months.
How I class up and keep my toes warm on cold days: one of Rich’s tube socks.
