(Not really, I just had to grab the camera because it was so cute that they were holding hands. )
Monday, June 30, 2008
Cousins Unite
(Not really, I just had to grab the camera because it was so cute that they were holding hands. )
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Baby's First Discipline?
I have been dreading disciplining my child. She is so little. Besides she doesn't really know what she is doing wrong. But I guess the definition of discipline is training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character.
Right now I don't plan on spanking, I do think time out is a good thing, extra chores and grounding when they get to some later age, and probably some lecturing/yelling will be practiced (though hopefully not too much).
I wondered how I would know when the right time to start worrying about discipline was and what I would do when the time came. How should/would I react?
Today I had my first opportunity to "train" my daughter. Did I lovingly cradle my child while I explained her wrong doing and how to correct her actions? No. Did I send her to her bed without further ado? No. Instead I decided to take the scriptural route, "Reproving betimes with sharpness...and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved."
What had my sweet baby angel done to cause me to reprove with sharpness? She showed me how sharp her two little teeth were with a sweet little nibble that drew BLOOD! I couldn't help it; I scram in pain. Callie got the picture and she started crying to say she was sorry. So of course I held her tight and gave her snuggles as I cried about making my baby cry.
Right now I don't plan on spanking, I do think time out is a good thing, extra chores and grounding when they get to some later age, and probably some lecturing/yelling will be practiced (though hopefully not too much).
I wondered how I would know when the right time to start worrying about discipline was and what I would do when the time came. How should/would I react?
Today I had my first opportunity to "train" my daughter. Did I lovingly cradle my child while I explained her wrong doing and how to correct her actions? No. Did I send her to her bed without further ado? No. Instead I decided to take the scriptural route, "Reproving betimes with sharpness...and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved."
What had my sweet baby angel done to cause me to reprove with sharpness? She showed me how sharp her two little teeth were with a sweet little nibble that drew BLOOD! I couldn't help it; I scram in pain. Callie got the picture and she started crying to say she was sorry. So of course I held her tight and gave her snuggles as I cried about making my baby cry.
Friday, June 27, 2008
The Week In Review
Monday. Well it was its usual self. Though Shelly and Alyson came over for much of the day. I gave Alyson a bottle which I must say felt a little odd. I have given babies bottles many times, but not since I began breastfeeding. It is strange how natural breastfeeding feels now, and how foreign a bottle seems.
Tuesday's Adventures in Babysitting went well. Alyson was quite well natured and Callie only mildly balked at having to share her mommy.
Wednesday was visiting teaching. Callie was remarkably well behaved for both appointments. Then I had to pay for the rest of the night. Oh well. At least she was sweet for the public. We also finally were able to get the new knob for our guest bathroom shower. At the third hardware store they told me it would be in the next day, but before I left he discovered a whole box full of Price Pfister knobs. It is now installed and we have two working showers!
Thursday Callie and I went to the Farmer's Market. Oh how I love the fresh produce and the fun things there. I tried some amazing red pepper goat cheese. One day I will be able to justify the cost of $7.50 for 6 oz of the most spreadable delicious goodness, but for now I will keep using good ol' Philly. Then we went swimming with the fam. The water to outside temperature was aligned. It was about 93 degrees outside (thanks to the haze of fires) and the pool temp was 80. Followed by some great pizza.
Now we are at Friday. I have set some lofty goals to prepare for my dad's visit next week. We will see how the day goes. I think my chances for achieving the days goals hinge on if I actually get the computer shut down so I don't get sucked into the internet.
Tuesday's Adventures in Babysitting went well. Alyson was quite well natured and Callie only mildly balked at having to share her mommy.
Wednesday was visiting teaching. Callie was remarkably well behaved for both appointments. Then I had to pay for the rest of the night. Oh well. At least she was sweet for the public. We also finally were able to get the new knob for our guest bathroom shower. At the third hardware store they told me it would be in the next day, but before I left he discovered a whole box full of Price Pfister knobs. It is now installed and we have two working showers!
Thursday Callie and I went to the Farmer's Market. Oh how I love the fresh produce and the fun things there. I tried some amazing red pepper goat cheese. One day I will be able to justify the cost of $7.50 for 6 oz of the most spreadable delicious goodness, but for now I will keep using good ol' Philly. Then we went swimming with the fam. The water to outside temperature was aligned. It was about 93 degrees outside (thanks to the haze of fires) and the pool temp was 80. Followed by some great pizza.
Now we are at Friday. I have set some lofty goals to prepare for my dad's visit next week. We will see how the day goes. I think my chances for achieving the days goals hinge on if I actually get the computer shut down so I don't get sucked into the internet.
Summer Pics...
These are a few of Callie's summer pics that we had taken at JC Penney last week. We get her pics taken there on a fairly regular basis and take full advantage of coupons!!! With the coupons we get a free 8x10 and 3.99 for each sheet.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Are You Ready To Rrruuummmble?
When my sister Shelly found out she was pregnant, a little less than a year ago, we decided that if/when she went back to work I would take care of her baby. In February she gave birth to her sweet baby girl, Alyson. Next week Shelly will return to work. Yesterday we had a trial run of Alyson spending the day here with her mom. It went well. I fed her and consoled her when she woke up from her nap. Today we are having a practice day before the everyday starts. Monday the real fun begins.
Right now Alyson is happily bouncing next to me, smiling and babbling away. My child is in her room screaming about the injustice of having to take a nap while her momma is two timing her. Her comfort object, the snuggle bear, is doing nothing to comfort and the pacifier is doing no sort of pacifying. That is not to say Callie is behaving any worse than Alsyon. They just like to take turns being cheeky. What fun!
Right now Alyson is happily bouncing next to me, smiling and babbling away. My child is in her room screaming about the injustice of having to take a nap while her momma is two timing her. Her comfort object, the snuggle bear, is doing nothing to comfort and the pacifier is doing no sort of pacifying. That is not to say Callie is behaving any worse than Alsyon. They just like to take turns being cheeky. What fun!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Growing Up
Callie had her 6 month well child checkup yesterday and she is growing perfectly. She is 26" long/tall and 16 lbs 10 oz, the 47th and 53rd percentile respectively. Now we just have to deal with the after vaccination blahs... One more day and she will hopefully be back to normal.
Here's a pic we took for Daddy for Father's Day. Notice the drool in the top right hand side where she just had to taste the construction paper, yum!
Here's a pic we took for Daddy for Father's Day. Notice the drool in the top right hand side where she just had to taste the construction paper, yum!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
New Tricks Part Two
When I wanted to take a picture of Callie sitting up for all of blog world to see, she decided she only wanted to stand, so I leaned her against the side of the crib while I took a picture. Excuse her buggy eyeness, she just woke up when in I walked with the camera.
New Tricks Part One
Callie can now sit up on her own for minutes at a time. She will usually fall over after a few minutes but she checks her balance and steadies herself quite well. Not too bad for a kid who just rolled over for the first time last week!
Too tired
On Thursday night I was a little late with dinner, but I had already fed and bathed Callie so I was just waiting to finish eating before our last nursing session of the day and she was getting tired, so Jeff stroked her forehead and she was out like a light. The book she is holding is her favorite toy. The pages make that fun crinkley noise and the corners are soft to chew on.
The Second Tooth
Days after the first tooth appeared a second poked its way through. It is still hard to see them, but they are there. I definitely notice them when Callie wants to chew on my fingers. A bad habit we picked up when she was just a little boo, because I didn't want to use a pacifier at first (to avoid nipple confusion) we would let her suck our fingers... pretty gross now that I think about it.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
A Tooth!
In Callie news this week, yesterday she cut her first tooth. You can't see it yet but it is definitely there. It's a sharp little thing!
Since you can't see the tooth in person, I am sure the camera won't capture it. So here's some love for Aunt Jen from her last visit.
Since you can't see the tooth in person, I am sure the camera won't capture it. So here's some love for Aunt Jen from her last visit.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Getting Political
I am not one who likes to argue much. (Basically I just want to be right ;) ) I also usually shy away from political discussions. When people argue their political views they are saying their way is right and yours is wrong (but in a lot more words than that). The problem with politics is that no one is ever really right. I prefer black and white. True and false. Right and wrong. 1+1=2... The real answers. In English I never picked up the underlying message.
So when I read the voter information pamphlet I was frustrated. Two propositions were on the ballot, prop 98 and prop 99. Prop 98 was basically about protecting eminent domain for homes, businesses, and farms, with an end to rent control. I really don't think the government should be able to take land from individuals to sell to private entities to generate more tax dollars. The rent control issue I am split on. In my opinion people should be able to rent their property to whomever they choose for whatever rent they choose. It is called a free market people. If no one is willing to pay the prices asked the property will sit vacant and the owner makes no money. Then if the owner wants to make money he/she will lower the rent. The protection for the renter comes in the form of a contract. If a renter enters into an agreement with the landlord who agrees to only raise the rent x dollars or percentage each year they are then protected. If the landlord does not want to enter into such an agreement they lose a potential renter. The problem with ending rent control is the solution proponents have come up with to solve the issue of individuals who could no longer afford their homes: don't worry the government will pay for it. People is that really the best solution? Do you realize that we are the government? We are the ones paying for it...
So you see the gray area on that one. Yes, I want eminent domain protection for individual homes, for investment property owners, for farms and for businesses. I don't know what I want for that rent control gray area. I lean toward abolishing rent control, but do I want to pay more taxes?
Then there is prop 99. A straightforward (on the cover at least) proposition that would protect owner occupied homes from eminent domain for reasons besides the expected stuff (highways, schools, parks, to build a dam, police station, firehouse). But this proposition was lacking protecting the rights of farms and small businesses. I read a post this morning that pointed out what this does for low cost rentals. The government can decide they want to use that land for a new condominium project to generate more tax dollars, use eminent domain to take the land, evicting all the previous tenants, but hey in this proposition rent control is protected. So why complain? Grr. Why is there really no such thing as a straightforward proposition.
If both propositions get 50% of the vote whichever gets the greater percentage wins.
This leads me to another gripe about the election yesterday. Last night I tuned into a local news station which was supposed to be giving live updates on the election results. I heard all about the tree that crashed into the Sacramento mayoral candidate’s party, but after watching for nearly an hour and a half found nothing about the results from prop 98 & 99. These were statewide propositions. Yet no one was reporting the results. I figured I just was missing the information. So while nursing this morning, I tuned into a different station to find out the results. They didn't mention either prop in the half hour I watched. So I went to the local newspaper website, nothing on the front page. Grr. I ended up doing a web search and finding out the information from a newspaper out of San Diego. Prop 99 is very likely going to be the winner.
My last complaint about yesterday's election was low voter turnout. Yesterday, I went to my polling place at 7:45 PM. I was the 58th person to cast their vote... in nearly 12 hours (less than 5 people per hour). I know more and more people are choosing absentee ballots, but the list of voters registered to vote at my polling place was quite long and VERY few had voted. So maybe you are like me and you don't really know what is best because it isn't all black and white. But you can try to make the right decision. If you make an educated guess into the gray area you are more likely to end up in a brighter shade of gray. But I guess if you all stay home you are just going to be left with the world that I want because my vote is has more power if no one else votes.
Btw, if you are still reading you are awesome, as this is basically a pretty boring rant, and I don't know that I would still be reading it if I had come across it on someone else's blog.
So when I read the voter information pamphlet I was frustrated. Two propositions were on the ballot, prop 98 and prop 99. Prop 98 was basically about protecting eminent domain for homes, businesses, and farms, with an end to rent control. I really don't think the government should be able to take land from individuals to sell to private entities to generate more tax dollars. The rent control issue I am split on. In my opinion people should be able to rent their property to whomever they choose for whatever rent they choose. It is called a free market people. If no one is willing to pay the prices asked the property will sit vacant and the owner makes no money. Then if the owner wants to make money he/she will lower the rent. The protection for the renter comes in the form of a contract. If a renter enters into an agreement with the landlord who agrees to only raise the rent x dollars or percentage each year they are then protected. If the landlord does not want to enter into such an agreement they lose a potential renter. The problem with ending rent control is the solution proponents have come up with to solve the issue of individuals who could no longer afford their homes: don't worry the government will pay for it. People is that really the best solution? Do you realize that we are the government? We are the ones paying for it...
So you see the gray area on that one. Yes, I want eminent domain protection for individual homes, for investment property owners, for farms and for businesses. I don't know what I want for that rent control gray area. I lean toward abolishing rent control, but do I want to pay more taxes?
Then there is prop 99. A straightforward (on the cover at least) proposition that would protect owner occupied homes from eminent domain for reasons besides the expected stuff (highways, schools, parks, to build a dam, police station, firehouse). But this proposition was lacking protecting the rights of farms and small businesses. I read a post this morning that pointed out what this does for low cost rentals. The government can decide they want to use that land for a new condominium project to generate more tax dollars, use eminent domain to take the land, evicting all the previous tenants, but hey in this proposition rent control is protected. So why complain? Grr. Why is there really no such thing as a straightforward proposition.
If both propositions get 50% of the vote whichever gets the greater percentage wins.
This leads me to another gripe about the election yesterday. Last night I tuned into a local news station which was supposed to be giving live updates on the election results. I heard all about the tree that crashed into the Sacramento mayoral candidate’s party, but after watching for nearly an hour and a half found nothing about the results from prop 98 & 99. These were statewide propositions. Yet no one was reporting the results. I figured I just was missing the information. So while nursing this morning, I tuned into a different station to find out the results. They didn't mention either prop in the half hour I watched. So I went to the local newspaper website, nothing on the front page. Grr. I ended up doing a web search and finding out the information from a newspaper out of San Diego. Prop 99 is very likely going to be the winner.
My last complaint about yesterday's election was low voter turnout. Yesterday, I went to my polling place at 7:45 PM. I was the 58th person to cast their vote... in nearly 12 hours (less than 5 people per hour). I know more and more people are choosing absentee ballots, but the list of voters registered to vote at my polling place was quite long and VERY few had voted. So maybe you are like me and you don't really know what is best because it isn't all black and white. But you can try to make the right decision. If you make an educated guess into the gray area you are more likely to end up in a brighter shade of gray. But I guess if you all stay home you are just going to be left with the world that I want because my vote is has more power if no one else votes.
Btw, if you are still reading you are awesome, as this is basically a pretty boring rant, and I don't know that I would still be reading it if I had come across it on someone else's blog.
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