The Instigator

Definitely still his best album.

But, speaking of instigators, I'm starting to get a glimpse into Little A's future. A few days ago at playgroup, she goaded two other two-year-olds into playing in the mud with her. By the way, we were not dressed for it. I thought playgroup would be inside since it rained that morning, but it got moved. Since I know my child, I thought things might get messy, but I did not want to deprive her of the chance to play and interact with others. And so, after repeatedly trying to get her to stay out of puddles, I relented when she was on the other side of the playground from me and I was sitting comfortably. She kept telling the other two (both boys, I might add) "Come on!" At first they hesitated, but eventually they were all jumping and covered in muddy water. Oh well, the joys of childhood, right?

One of the other moms commented, "I can just see Little A being the ringleader of her friends when she's older."

"Oh no," I suddenly had a thought. "I hope she doesn't convince them to do anything illegal." Bad Influence!

Baby Ninja

Baby brother gave us a scare today. At my appointment this morning, I was measuring six weeks behind! Six flippin' weeks! For the uninitiated, that "measurement" is based on fundal height, aka how tall is ye olde uterus these days by tape measure? So they sent me in for an ultrasound almost right away and in the meantime I had two hours to google every thing that might be wrong (fun). Turns out he's just a little hiding ninja and is measuring totally normal via ultrasound. From now on when people tell me "you're so small!" I will say one of four things:

-Yes, he's adept at blending in to his surroundings, like a ninja. Or Rambo.
-I know, how efficient is my awesome body, right?
-It's probably my rock solid abs.
-Shove it.

Latest Home Improvement Project: Mold Removal

I know you're already excited based on the title. I could probably write a thrilling blog called Life in a 1970's Townhouse and this would be one of the star posts, if there could be such a thing on such a blog in such a universe as this one.

Anyway, it's taken up a lot of our life lately, so . . . ready or not, here it is, you can't hide. The top five things I learned from our recent dismantling, cleaning, and remantling of half of the basement.

1. Based on LCD's hands, working with waterproofing cement on a cinderblock surface can lead to leprosy.

2. Studs, at least the ones in the walls of our basement, are much less formidable than I previously imagined. They are just a thin strip of metal and they are only bolted into place at the top so once we had all the dry wall and wall insulation down they just kind of hung there and moved around quite easily.

3. If you're hacking away at a piece of drywall and the nearby lights suddenly get a lot brighter and flicker, it does not necessarily mean you are electrocuted or that you just hit a wire. In fact, we're still not totally sure what that meant.

4. Masks of any kind covering my mouth and nose still really, really bug me. I'm a total claustrophobe about it. I still wore one anyway to protect the 7 month old fetus from spores, but if we ever have a serious disease epidemic where everyone walks around with masks on, I may be the one that hyperventilates to death. Here's hoping I don't need an oxygen mask when I deliver baby #2.

5. This has nothing to do with home improvement, but I don't think it needs it's own post, so I'm hiding it here. It's a question, actually, and the question is Why won't Zooey Deschanel leave me alone? She's all indie-pop Christmas albuming, then she's all over the dang Winnie the Pooh soundtrack that I get to hear all the time. And, okay, I can handle those things, and she's not actually bad at them. And just like everyone who's ever been single and in a dead-end relationship, I liked 500 Days of Summer. But why oh why does her terrible new sitcom have to show up on hulu after I watch a show that's somewhat entertaining, and why can't I stop from watching that awfulness? I'm thinking of giving in and becoming a Zooey superfan just like I did with Shia LeBouf a few years ago. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

*Half of this post was composed with a two-year-old jumping on me, so just keep that in mind.
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Beginner Sewing

I got a sewing machine for Christmas. The last time I sewed anything was 8th grade and it was not pretty. I'm hoping to make a baby sling for the new baby since I think it will be quicker to use than any of the other baby-wearing options I have already and, well, Little A IS a bit insane so I'm pretty sure I will still need to bolt after her on occasion. They are supposed to be really easy to make but I still doubt myself. I've read a lot and just ordered some fabric and a ring to put the fabric through. Other than that I want to learn how to hem pants. Pretty basic, I know, but you should have seen the stuffed elephant I tried to make at age 13. Anyway, I'm telling the three people that read my blog so I'll feel responsible or something.

Resolved

. . . that the U.S. should reduce worldwide pollution through something, something blah blah blah." That's the best I can remember our theme when I was on debate team in high school a million years ago. It just came back to my mind. Yeah, I was a little nerdy. But I kind of wish I had fully embraced the nerdiness instead of being so unsure of who I was, but I guess that's what being a teenager is about.

Anecdote aside, this post is really about my resolutions this year. I like new beginnings and resolutions and despite that it is cooler to be cynical, I am not particularly cynical about them--nerdiness shining through, I guess.

So internets this year, I want to:

1) Be a more "zen" mom -- I don't mean discipline-free by any means, just no shouting, less getting exasperated, more accepting of myself and the crazy ball of energy that is my wonderful kid (and the fact that we aren't the same as some other mom/child).

2) Focus more on my spirituality.

3) Have a better birth and post-partum experience with #2 (since there's only so much I can do, I should probably just say "handle it better whatever happens," but I'm hopeful for more than that).

Okay, I think that's enough. Only three things, but they are all a really big deal to me, so I think it's plenty.

Happy 2012 to everyone.