May 1, 2011 9:57 am

Adventurous

I am not an adventurous person by nature. The unknown freaks me out, and I prefer routine to chaos.

That meant that when I moved to Portland in the fall of 2003 and saw a tour poster for The Art of Rock 2 including Nile, Vader, and Amon Amarth, and I felt like I HAD to go, I almost backed out because I had no one to go with! Daniel was still in Idaho, I had only just met my roommates, and I didn’t know anybody in town with my same musical tastes.

My roommate convinced me to just GO, and man, I was so glad I did.

Here’s an excerpt from a recap I wrote post-show:

THEN, I had the coolest thing EVER happen to me! I was just standing there by myself, and I turned around and immediately recognized this guy.
This was weird, because I really don’t know anyone from Portland. There was a small circle of people around him, and it finally dawned on me that it was the huge blonde guy from NILE! So when he went over to the FYE table, I followed him. He was signing stuff over there so I got in line. I got to shake his hand, and he signed my ticket, and I told him that Daniel was really jealous that I was there because he couldn’t go. Karl was like, man, that sucks. You should have told him to come down for the weekend. I was like, yeah, I know, but he had to work. So then he asks me my name, and shook my hand again, and told me thanks for coming. I WAS SO STOKED!

(No judging, I was barely 18 and still a total idiot.)

But still totally awesome! I went to a death metal show, BY MYSELF, in a new city, and met the lead singer of a band I really liked. It showed me that I could do things by myself in a new city, and I didn’t have to let opportunities pass me by because I didn’t want to be adventurous.

(This blog post is part of a May challenge at theqbee.net.)

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April 27, 2011 11:56 am

Milestones

Wesley has learned SO MUCH in the last couple of weeks and I wanted to mention it here so I don’t forget.

We’ve been using baby sign language with him intermittently from about 4 months on, but right until he turned a year old we didn’t see anything in response. Then one day, after we signed “all done” after dinner, he held one hand up and shook it. I wasn’t sure, but it SEEMED like he knew what he was doing. Then he did it again the next day! He even does it after nursing (most of the time) to let me know he’s finished.

He also started doing what we call “crazy baby” – if you shake your head back and forth and say “Aaahhahahah” he will do it back to you. I caught this one on video. Not the best angle, but you can tell what he’s doing.

After months and months of asking “how big is the baby?” and helping him reach his hands above his head to say “THIS BIG,” he can finally do it himself! Except he only uses one hand and he puts it on his head. BUT! He knows to do that action if you ask him how big the baby is. I caught this one on video too.

He initiates peek-a-boo himself! He’ll hold a blanket or prefold over his eyes and wait until you say “Where is Wesley?” before moving it away so you can say “Peek-a-boo!” More recently, he figured out that he doesn’t even need something to hold on to – he can just use his hands! Or hide his face!

It doesn’t look like he’s going to walk anytime soon – he cruises around on the coffee table, walls, entertainment center, bookshelves, and anything else he can pull up on, but he’s completely disinterested in letting go and trying to balance. The times he does do it, it’s on accident and it clearly scares the daylights out of him. No rush, I say. I’m fine with him having to crawl to get anywhere.

My wittle babby is turning into a toddler! *sniff*

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April 6, 2011 12:25 pm

Babywearing Crisis

(Note: This happened a couple of weeks ago, but I didn’t have the post finished and then it was Wesley’s birthday and my family was in town, and then my in-laws, and I am just now getting around to posting it.)

My first official day of being a stay-at-home-mom, and I go and lose our baby carrier.

Okay, that’s not totally true. Daniel and I both remembered using it on the 19th when we went to IKEA and Target. Beyond that… it was a mystery. I discovered its absence two days later when I was all ready to go on an afternoon walk. I searched the apartment, even went out to the car and looked in the trunk, nothing. No idea where it went. I couldn’t even remember when I last saw it. I had a vague memory of remarking that we had accidentally shut the straps in the car door, and I believe I said this in the Target parking lot, but beyond that I wasn’t sure.

I called Target and the lady had no idea what I was talking about.

Me: Yes, I’m calling about something that may have been lost in your parking lot?

Target: Oh, yes?

Me: It’s an Ergo brand baby carrier. It’s bright green, with black straps?

Target: Oh, like a carseat?

Me: No… um, it’s… you can carry your baby in it? It’s got buckles, and–

Target: OH! Like one of those shopping cart covers.

Me: No. Um… It’s like… OH! It is like a Baby Bjorn.

Target: Ahh. I will go look.

Me: …

Target: Nope. Not here.

Me: Ah, shoot. Nobody turned one in? Okay. Thank you for checking.

I tried to call IKEA too, but their phone system was a maze of not-quite-accurate options and then they put me on hold forever and I finally gave up.

The next day, after sending a panicked email to Jem about Plan B Babywearing Options, I decided to give Target another call just in case I got someone that had a better idea what I was talking about and would know what to look for.

To my complete surprise, the girl confirmed that yes, they did have my carrier and I could pick it up anytime. HURRAY!

Once Daniel got home from work, we drove back out there to pick it up. I was so relieved! I can’t even explain it. Without it, I had felt like a prisoner in my own home! I had never realized how much I depended on my baby carrier until it was gone.

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