End of first month

The end of my first month of blogging and I'm truly enjoying it. I now know why a new weblog is created every second of every day, at least according to data collected back in April 2006.

This morning was my weekly "buddy stubble." The lady watching Katherine's age group asked if she was this quiet at home and of course I said a resounding NO. She said that Katherine didn't say a word the whole time she was in there. I should have known that the ride home was going to be talking-double-time to make up for 2 hours of silence.

Today was my mom's birthday, so we invited her over after nap time to make brownies. Katherine stood on top of the chair (to reach the counter easier) and helped Mer pour in the vegetable oil, break the eggs, measure out the water, mix the batter and pour it into the pan. She was also eager to help lick the bowl, with Mer's help. We cut out 3 brownies, added a candle to one and sang Happy Birthday to Mer. Simple celebrations mean so much more now.

Katherine seems to find random stuff I thought was tucked away because I didn't use it any more. Recently she found a little 3"x3" book called, "Mother to Son: Shared Wisdom from the Heart." I started reading through the "In the beginning" section and thought I'd share some of the quotes periodically in this and following posts as they pertain. It starts with:
The Five Keys:

1. Pray for him every day
2. Respect his father
3. Do everything in your power to create a peaceful home
4. Feed him love, morals, values, and integrity daily
5. Be a strong woman

I'd have to say the one that has been the most pertinent lately is, "Realize that from day one, he's wired to be self-reliant. Don't change that." I just told Jim tonight that Nathan won't let me comfort him like Katherine did. She would be just plum happy to let someone hold her all night, sleep inbetween us, be rocked to sleep, whatever meant constant contact. Not my little man. He doesn't want to be rocked or walked around for too long; he just gets figity. I think he might be cutting another tooth so last night at midnight when he was inconsolable, I tried bringing him into bed to cuddle him and calm him down after I tried rocking, walking, patting hiney, etc. Being in our bed meant play time which translates into: beat on daddy's head then laugh. Which leads to the other quote for today, "Accept the fact that boys and girls are different."

Tonight during reading time before bed, Katherine picked out a paragraph story about baby Jesus being born (her favorite bible story). The picture (shown on left) showed Mary holding baby Jesus and some shepherds. The story also told how Jesus was God's son and I went into a semi-age-appropriate story about how God was Jesus' REAL daddy and Joseph was Jesus' daddy on earth. I was so impressed with myself, I looked at Jim and said, "That was pretty good, huh?" So when Katherine looked at the picture and asked where Jesus' daddy was (she was looking for Joseph), I thought I might need to explain it a little clearer. My hesitation was too long and left an opening for her to declare: "Maybe he's at work."