Paper Dolls and other activities




Playing Paddy Cake

 I had a wonderful time with Sophie today. I got up early so that I could get ready while Lily was still sleeping. (I am finding that I MUST begin appreciating mornings now that I'm living the life of a single mother.)

These are glorious times. I love being a mommy. Tuesdays and Thursdays are precious to me. I get to watch my three-year-old play make-believe, love on her, chase her, take walks with her and see how much she loves being around Lily.

She and Lily are so cute together. Lily already adores her big sister and has a ready grin on her face when Sophie talks to her. Sophie, however, can also make Lily cry like no one else. Sophie doesn't mean to do it, but sometimes she is just overcome with the need to act like a tiger, bear, lion or some other creature that growls really loudly. When she does this in Lily's presence, usually in Lily's face, Lily immediately drops her bottom lip as low as it can go and lets out a pitiful cry. (Sometimes, I wonder if Sophie inwardly enjoys the impression she makes. I mean, WOW! What a reaction Lily gives to that scary growl!)

At this point, Tommy and I try not to laugh too much at Sophie's back-tracking, "Lily, Lily, it's OK, it's just me. It's me, big sister!" or poor Lily's astonishment. (We usually fail pretty miserably.) These are good times. Times it feels like it's supposed to...like a family.


Today, I embarked on a new activity with Sophie as Tommy worked his magic by getting Lily to sleep.

I made some paper dolls for her...

You see, right now, Sophie is really into using sissors to cut paper and create pictures by pasting the pieces on black paper. (I have acquired quite a bit of scrapbooking paper and it makes for wonderful art.) As I was cutting out flowers and whatnot for her to paste, I began creating little people. After I had cut out a momma, daddy, brother and sister, they needed clothes, of course. Hats, shirts, pants, you know. Then I cut out a dog and Sophie insisted that it needed to be on a leash.

Once I was done, Sophie was off in the World of Pretend.

This was such a joy to me! It was a simple and pleasureable thing to do for her and I was taken aback when, after completing the family, Sophie looked up at me with genuine gratitude and said, "Thank you, Mommy." Such a good girl, she is!

What a priceless thing to share with her!

After a wonderful day, I went back to my house with Lily (always a sad time that requires much reflection, praying and occassionally, provokes some tears) and laid her down for a nap. I was not only given a special little gem like Sophie, but I have been blessed with TWO tiny treasures.

When Lily woke up from her nap, I walked in to see her peeking up over the side of her bassinet, looking for me. I laughed and ran to get my sister who rejoiced with me at the cuteness of it.

This sweetness is enough. I know God's love in these times.

A Tribute...Wordless Wednesday

My sister and others do this and I think it's a great idea. Not only does it gaurantee a post from me, it also helps me not have to think of anything witty to say and keeps people up-to-date.

Here are a few pictures for this new tradition: Wordless Wednesday

Ham is 11 months old!

YAY! Wow, Ham is almost a year old.

She has grown so much and then again, she's still just a baby.

I could have never imagined what a joy my own child would bring. I have fiercely loved my nieces and nephew with all of my heart. I would do anything for them. I would lay down my life for them. I have also loved the kids I baby-sat for in the last 10 years. I have become so attached to other people's children that I cried when I had to say good-bye.

When I look into Ham's eyes, I see my heart. I am so in love. She is the funniest, wittiest (yeah, yeah, she can't even talk, I know), most brilliant, sweetest baby ever. I love everything she does...even when she is crying or whining, I love her. Even like her a lot. I love her voice. I love everything about her squatty (my sister's coined word for Ham), chubby, silky-soft body. I love her open-mouth, a-little-too-wet-kisses. I love it when she pats me on the back while I cradle her in my arms. I love it (and it breaks my heart) when she cries out, "Ma ma ma ma," if she doesn't want to go in her crib. I love watching her discover EVERYTHING. I love discovering things all over again through her eyes.

If we have another baby, I can't even imagine loving them as much as I love her. But I know I will. My sister told me so. And she's really, really smart. She had the same thoughts, the same fear, "How can I love anyone as much as I love my first?" Then she had her little boy and she fell in love with him, too...and with her second little girl after that.

I know each parent feels the same way that I do about their children. I know that every aunt and uncle love their nieces and nephews as their own children. To all of us, however, the love for our own flesh and blood is unmatched. It is what it is.

So, anyway, we don't know what we're doing for Ham's 1st Birthday, but I'm sure it will involve family, friends, cake and ice cream, NO PRESENTS (I hope, but know she'll get some), and lots of pictures and laughs.

Here's what Ham learned to do for the first time on September 8th...her 11 month 'birthday.' (What DO you call that, anyway?)

Family Reunion

Saturday, July 5th, we drove down to Quitman, MS for the reunion. Every time Genius (aka My Husband) and I go to the McLeod Family Reunion, I am blessed. It was a little smaller this year. About 50 people came instead of the usual 100, so it seemed pretty bare. Now that we have a baby, we got to sleep in a nice, cool part of the house instead of the South Room which reaches about 100 degrees during the day and a cool 90 at night. (I don't know the exact temperatures, but all I know is that it was stinkin' hot even when I wasn't 6 month pregnant.) We got to ride down with Genius's sister and brother-in-law...and Baby Bear (due in January) and it was really fun. Ham did great! She either slept or played peek-a-boo behind her poodle lovey (it was the first time she initiated the game by herself).

Also, anytime my SIL's MP3 played The Cure, Ham would start 'singing.' It was so cute. I am obsessed love The Cure and for her to like it too, was just icing on the cake of this already delicious child. We didn't have much time to see everyone because we then left on Sunday, but it was relaxing and fun. Ham got to see more fireworks and she did good. These were a LOT louder than Anthony's, so we just covered Ham's ears. She didn't really react at all. I think she was too tired to think much of anything. She was still up at 10PM at that point, only having napped once for about an hour since 8AM.

The hardest part of the trip, for any of us, was that Ham bawled manipulatively every chance she got slept in a crib in our room. It was the first time she had slept in the same room with us. Even after she was born, she went straight to her crib. No bassinet, no co-sleeping, just bundled like a burrito in her own bed. Since, she's had a hard time sleeping anywhere else. (With the next kid, I think we'll try letting them sleep in different places and in the pack-n-play so they can be more adjusted to sleeping outside of their crib.)

So this scenario made it interesting for all three of us. She cried for over an hour that night until she just passed out. I also nursed her in our bed until she drifted off (something I have never condoned because I don't want it to be a habit). She needed her sleep, though, and I knew it would work. Though, once her head hit the crib mattress, she was up again, crying.

However, Genius and I took it well. We knew it was going to be hard, so we were mentally prepared. We were hiding our faces behind our pillows to muffle the laughter and pretending to be asleep as she kept hanging on to the side of the crib, crying pitifully, and trying to stay awake as long as possible. I felt so bad for the other people in the house.

Please don't think we're terrible parents for laughing, but we knew she was OK. She would lose her grip on the railing, fall down, and then we'd see this little hand come up the side and hear her grunting and huffing, exhausted as ever, trying to get back on her feet to see us and make sure we saw her. Then she would start crying again. OH, OH, at one point, she was crying uncontrollably and her flailing hand caught her attention. So she stopped crying and started looking at her fingers move around, then realized she had gotten distracted from her real goal, and began crying again. It really was funny. We LOST it.

The scariest part of the night was when I heard Ham smacking her lips and almost left it alone. However, Mommy instinct told me not to go back to sleep, and when I went over to her, she had a cotton ball-sized piece of batting hanging out of her mouth. There was a hole in the bumper pad and she had worked her fingers into it and pulled out the stuffing. It's one of those moments that, as a mom, you envision what could have happened if you didn't intercede. I don't like to think about it, but it's a reality. Of course, I took the bumper pad out...quite angrily. But, I was happy to hear her crying off and on the rest of the night. At least I knew she was OK. Her position of choice for sleeping? In the corner of the crib, in a sitting position, bent over double with her head on her feet. At one point, she grabbed her Bunny Bear and used it as a pillow. This was so she could get back into a standing position a little easier. Pitiful.