Keziah Reading

Today we went to the library. It is always lots of fun and we usually have the place to ourselves. I usually pick a few books to check out for Keziah. But today she seemed particularly interested in this monster-themed counting book. She pulled it off the shelf herself and then carried it around with her at the library. So of course I checked it out for her. Not long after we got home, Michael Paul woke up and Keziah was eager to show him her new book. He was able to sneak the video camera out of the drawer and start recording without her noticing. We've been dying to get video of her reading - because we think it is the cutest thing in the world! But as soon as she sees the camera she stops doing whatever cute thing we are trying to capture and comes running toward the camera (as you'll see at the end of the video when she finally notices Daddy has the camera out). So here is Keziah reading (ok ok it's not really 'reading' but it's the 16 month-old version of reading):

Bath Time Update

So if you are a regular reader here, you might recall my bath time struggles with Keziah. Well I just had to give another update because baths have been so wonderful lately. It was a slow steady progress over the last two months. She eventually ventured to sit down in the tub (as opposed to my lap) and even discovered the joy of splashing. Now we have the much welcomed and better problem of having water all over the floor! Michael Paul hunted down some of his old favorite bath toys on ebay and had a blast playing with his treasured yellow wind up boat and pocket power submarine with Keziah.

To fully show how far we've come, here is what our bath looked like a couple days ago: We went upstairs and I said, "Keziah you want to take a bath?" She runs into the bathroom and tries to take her shirt off. I undress her and turn the water on. She reaches over and sticks her hand underneath and tries to climb into the tub. She has a huge smile on her face. I get out the bath toys and her smile turns into squeals of glee. Michael Paul comes upstairs and I slip out of the bathroom. Michael Paul gives the whole bath and she never cries for me, never needs to nurse, doesn't miss me at all. She whimpers a bit when he rinses the shampoo out of her hair but not much. Meanwhile I get some much needed alone time - catching up on blogs while eating peanut butter and chocolate chips! I go up half an hour later to discover Daddy has filled the tub almost to the brim. It's basically a swimming pool and she is splashing and playing quite happily! I grab her and wrap her in a towel and she whimpers because bath time is over. We brush teeth, read a story, and she falls asleep very quickly! Now if that is not a successful bath time, I don't know what is! We have decided that baths are now Daddy's responsibility. He loves them and it gives them a special bonding time (and me some alone time!) And I am certain she will have no problems swimming this summer!

Maybe when she starts talking better I will ask her if she remembers being so afraid of water and ask her why. It still really boggles my mind and I would love to know if something happened, or she saw something that brought on her intense hydrophobia. Maybe I'll never know, but I sure am glad it has passed!

Happy Easter

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.

-- Matthew 28: 5-6

Happy Easter!

Natural Parenting Blog Party

So I'm joining my first blog party! I confess I haven't blogged much other than pictures lately ... and this was as simple as answering some questions - so I thought it would be a good opportunity to actually write something. And you just might learn a little bit more about me. Here goes:

1. How many children do you have and how old are they?

I have one daughter, Keziah who is almost 16 months.

2. Do you have a partner or are you a single parent?

I am married to my awesome husband, Michael Paul. We've been married 6.5 years!

3. What are your hot button parenting issues?

My biggest issue is when parents make uninformed decisions. When it comes down to it, I don't care if other moms choose to do something different than me, but it drives me crazy when they make their decisions based on bad information. Like if someone says they don't co-sleep because "it is dangerous." Or that they are weaning at one year because "breastfeeding has no benefit after one." I mean if co-sleeping is not for you and your family, or you want to wean early, fine. But don't go around stating things that just aren't true as if they're facts. I hate the perpetuation of so many myths when it comes to parenting.

4. Have you made any parenting choices that you didn't think you would make before you were a parent?

Absolutely! I am a very organized, type-A, OCD personality. I always saw myself as that mom who would have her kid on a tight schedule with lots of high expectations and lots of discipline. And I didn't turn out to be that way at all. Keziah never scheduled herself when it came to feedings and naps. Everyday is different and I just go with it. I have pretty much just followed my instincts and my daughter's cues. I NEVER thought I would co-sleep, but my daughter seemed to need me a lot at night so we just kind of fell in to that pattern. I always assumed we would spank our kids, but Michael Paul and I have since been convicted of that mindset and we are learning all about grace-based-discipline instead. I continue to surprise myself!

5. Is there one book or person in particular that's heavily influenced your parenting choices?

In an ironic way, yes. Babywise was the first parenting book someone gave me and the first parenting book I read. So much of it felt so 'wrong' to me and it inspired me to search for alternatives and better ways and that's how I discovered Attachment Parenting.

6. If you had to describe each of your children using only one word, what word would you use?

Miracle

7. Is there one parenting decision that you regret more than others and wish you could change?

No big regret comes to mind. But I do tend to be hard on myself and struggle with mommy-guilt everyday. I let little things get to me like, I heard Keziah crying today, but I was focused on getting the dishwasher emptied so I didn't go to her immediately. In the moment I don't think it is a big deal to finish what I'm doing. But then I lay in bed at night and wonder if she thinks I care more about clean dishes than I do about her.

8. Is there an area of your parenting you wish you were better at?

I really wish I was strong enough to go TV-free. I confess I really like my TV shows. But Keziah is getting to where if the TV is on, she is watching it too. And I hate that she is watching. But then the next day I turn it on to watch another show that I am in to. I am getting better at not turning it on during the day though.

9. Now for the fun questions- Is there one particular food or type of food that you could eat everyday?

Dark Chocolate! I think I have to have a little everyday!

10. Vanilla ice cream or chocolate?

Chocolate. And it's better if it has something crunchy in it, like chocolate chips, or chocolate covered nuts, or turtles, or cookies, or something.

11. What's your guilty pleasure?

Ben and Jerry's Fish Food Ice Cream. I can seriously eat a whole pint in one sitting. And Peanut M&M's. I can seriously eat an entire large bag in one day.

12. If you could be a part of any television show, which show would it be?

I can't think of one for myself. But my husband really wants to be on Wipeout. And I really want to watch him on Wipeout!

Well, that's enough about me.

If you have the time, click on the blue box above to find some awesome parenting blogs and consider joining the party yourself!

Mount Mitchell

At 6684 feet, Mount Mitchell is the highest peak east of the Mississippi River. It also happens to be about 45 minutes from our house. So with my parents visiting this weekend, we spent the day up on the Blue Ridge Parkway and hiked a short little trail up around Mount Mitchell. Here we are at the top.

Since Keziah was on Michael Paul's shoulders, she was officially the highest person in the eastern US for a brief moment in time. Well I guess you have to disqualify folks in airplanes. Still, she is pretty special!

So we hiked a short nature trail up near the peak. Keziah was carried most of the time, but when it flattened out, she really enjoyed hiking. The trail had a lot of gravel on it with the occasional large boulder. For some reason, Keziah found it very troubling to see a small pebble or gravel rock laying on a large rock. So she would stop, bend down, and very carefully take each piece of gravel off the big rocks and lay it down in the patches of gravel. We joke all the time about her OCD tendencies. We are not overly concerned; we actually delight in her little quirks. They are what make our little girl so uniquely her. Here she is 'fixing' the trail.

After a couple of hours in the cold and wind, I was ready to descend a few 1000 feet to warmer air. We took a break to soak up some sun - still on the Blue Ridge Parkway - but much lower, and therefore warmer.

My dad and Michael Paul got some trail maps to look at and Keziah enjoyed looking too.

A special thanks to my mom for snapping a bunch of wonderful family photos. I didn't realize she was taking these, and she got a lot of great pics while we were just sitting in the grass. I think the last picture I have of Michael Paul and me is several years old. Now I have this one:

Ahhhhh ... life is good!

Roller Coaster Training

When both Mommy and Daddy LOVE roller coasters, I guess it's in the genes. The faster we pulled, the steeper the hill, the bumpier the ride, the more she laughed and squealed with glee.

I see the future ... and it involves putting tissues in her shoes. :)

Penelope the Peacock

The farm in the valley below us has peacocks. Since it is winter and the leaves are off our trees, we can usually see them wandering around down there (and we can certainly hear them) but they are usually very far away. This morning, however, this little guy wandered up the hill through the woods and much to his delight discovered the birdseed that falls from our feeder.

We had a wonderful time watching him from the deck. We named him Penelope - because that just seems like an appropriate name for a peacock even if he is a boy-peacock. Keziah was pointing and giggling.

He never showed his feathers. But he is absolutely beautiful. Michael Paul says he is now in our front yard. He may be thinking of adopting a new home. Which would be fine with us as he might be the only bird to actually be able to scare away the squirrels from our feeder. He has already been squawking at squirrels who are trying to share in the fallen bird seed.

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On an unrelated note, I've been meaning to post a picture of this adorable strawberry apron I made a few weeks ago. It is reversible and I can tie it in the front or the back.

So when I finally got around to taking pictures of my apron, we had been outside shooting guns and Michael Paul said, "hey why don't you hold your gun in a picture". He loves this picture and has been nagging me about posting this. Now don't I just look like a (wanna-be) prairie wife!

I got into a real sewing mood in March and in addition to this apron I sewed an amp cover for my darling husband, made some black-out curtains for our very bright bedroom so he can get some sleep in there during the day, and recycled a dead cloth diaper by making it into a mama-cloth pad. It was a very crafty month for me.