8 things about me

Julie tagged me for the 8 Things About Me meme while I was in Michigan. I have finally gotten around to starting it.

To save me some typing, I am going to paste the first part of the meme straight from Julie's post. I'll change the font to green for the stolen part so there isn't any confusion.

The first rule of the game is to post the rules of the game. [This makes it sound so complex. When it's just 8 things about me. Am I missing something?]

Here they are:
* Each player starts with eight random facts/habits.
* People who are tagged need to write posts on their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.
* At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.

So here goes:

1. I love to drive. Especially long distances. When we go somewhere, I am the primary driver. This makes Mike feel guilty, like he isn't doing his manly duty, but it really works out better. He gets bored when driving a long time and falling asleep behind the wheel is a bad thing. He also does a much better job entertaining Emily than I would.
2. I strongly dislike talking on the phone. I'm pretty sure that this is partly from my years of working in a call center. Talking on the phone for a living pretty much cured any desire I might have had to spend hours on the phone. Not a good thing when the majority of your family lives out of town.
   
3. When I do talk on the phone, I cannot sit still. I have to be up and wandering around or doing something. I did this at the call center, too. I had a big long cord and I would kind of pace back and forth. I'm sure it made the people who sat around me nuts, but I didn't really care.
   
4. I had a stuffed bear named Fergus that I slept with until I got married. Not for fear of the dark, but because I liked having something to cuddle with. (Mike and I didn't live together before we got married, so, except for occasional sleep overs, I slept by myself.)
   
5. I am not a big cheese eater. I have learned to like muenster, but other than that, I don't really care for cheese. Especially by itself. I'll put cheddar on stuff and I'll eat grilled cheese sandwiches, but most of the time there is too much cheese on stuff for my liking. Especially pizza. I frequently pick the cheese off and eat the crust and toppings cheese-less. I have been known to order a pizza without cheese.
   
6. I really like ketchup. A burger cannot be consumed without ketchup. Or with much else on it. Hamburgers are best when they are the burger, the bun and some ketchup (while we were in Canada, I . With ketchup on the side to dip it all in. Mmmm.
   
7. I hate being hot. Warm weather, especially when I'm pregnant, makes me cranky. And our house isn't air conditioned, so cranky happens a lot around here in the summer. I would rather be cold than hot, because you can always put more clothes on.
   
8. I hate having stuff on my face. I don't wear makeup because I can't stand the feeling of it on my face. I have been using an ointment for my roseacea and it is making me nuts. It's really thick and I can feel it for hours after I put it on. Ugh.
   

So there you go. 8 more things about me you didn't know before and could have lived without knowing. :)

Cop out alert: I'm supposed to tag people, but this has been going around for so long, I'm pretty sure everyone has done it. If you haven't and you want to, go for it.

Emily in the yard

Ok, so it turns out it wasn't that hard after all.

Please excuse the loud talker holding the video camera and occasionally breathing, stalker-like, into the mic.



For anyone else who is looking for help embedding video in Blogger, here is a link to the FAQ I found that pointed me in the right direction.

And now that I know how to embed the video you are going to be seeing TONS more videos of Emily! :) And Lucy when she gets here.

For Lainey

Lainey my dear, ask and you shall receive.

You asked for pictures of my new haircut and here they are.


While we were at it, I had my mom take a belly shot, since I have complained several times about being large, but haven't shown any evidence of the largeness. I've been told a bunch of times that I'm really not very big for as far along as I am, but lemme tell you, I still feel HUGE. I'm having a hard time reaching my toes to put my socks on and all that fun stuff.


While we were taking the hair and belly pictures, Emily climbed up on her rocking horse, so we took a picture of that. The mark on the wall near her is the beginnings of our height chart. We'll add another measurement in August when Emily turns 2.

I took a video of Emily in the backyard tonight, so I'm off to sign up for YouTube and figure out how to embed video into Blogger. Anyone who has done this is welcome to email me with tips.

Home Sweet Home

We're home.

Thank goodness.

Our weekend was wonderful. We got to Michigan about 8 pm Thursday evening. We ran a bunch of errands Friday morning and took a quick tour through my mom's clinic (she works at a cancer center as a chemo nurse). My cousin, her boyfriend, my grandparents and some friends of my parent's came out for dinner Friday night. I ate so much that I was in actual pain. After Grandma & Grandpa and the family friends went home, we decided to leave Emily (sleeping) with my parents and go see Pirates of the Carribean.

Except...

It was sold out.

So we went to Big Boy instead and had more dessert. Because the discomfort had lessened enough that a chocolate milkshake sounded like a good idea. (Not. Not a good idea. But still very yummy.)

Saturday was the appointed day for the anniversary party for my grandparents. They celebrated their 65th anniversary this past week and so we had a party. (65 years. They are my role models. More so when, on Sunday, Grandma mentioned wanting to kill Grandpa on many occasions, like that morning.) The party went very well. Emily did a fantastic job of mingling and keeping everyone entertained. Mike did an even better job of keeping Emily from destroying the place. Me? I sat around and talked. Conversations centered around when the baby was due, what kind of baby I am having, the name we have picked out and the planned age gap between the two (23 months).

Sunday Mike, Emily & I went to meet a blogging friend (Elizabeth @ table4five.net) at a nearby Big Boy for breakfast. That was very fun. I have pictures. I will upload them to Flickr and update this with a link later. [Updated with a link.]

My cousin and her boyfriend came back out to spend some more time with us Sunday afternoon. My grandparents showed up later in the afternoon and we had an early dinner. Pretty boring, but nice all the same.

We headed home Monday afternoon. We left my parents house at 12:45. We arrived home at 10:30 pm.

Usually, the trip home doesn't take us almost 11 hours.

We were doing really well until about 4 pm. We stopped at a rest stop in Canada for gas and a pee break. When we got back on the road, the traffice seemed heavier, but it was still moving. It got progressively heavier until it was barely moving. Mike and I had been attributing that to rush hour (since our town doesn't really have a rush hour, we forget what it is like to be stuck in traffic like that). I turned on the radio to see if they had any information about the traffic and discovered that the QEW (Queen Elizabeth Way) was really backed up. We weren't even on the QEW yet and we were feeling the backup. It took us 3 & 1/2 hours to travel less than 60 miles.

It turns out there had been a really bad accident on the QEW earlier and they had shut down 3 of 4 lanes. By the time we got through all the traffic and past the site of the accident, it was 7:30. My bladder was about to burst, Emily was losing her mind from being cooped up for so long and we all were starving. We stopped at a local mall we'd seen while in the traffic and had dinner and took a quick stretch-your-legs walk around part of the mall. We were back in the car at 8 pm. Emily fell asleep while we were stuck in more traffic. We finally got back on our way home around 8:30. I think we crossed the border back into NY about 9pm. The rest of the ride home was uneventful, with the exception of my near-constant whining about sore back, Braxton-Hicks contractions, sore hip, etc.

We got home, unloaded only the bare necesseties, pulled Emily out of her car seat and dumped her into jammies and then bed and hit the hay ourselves. We were in bed with the lights out at 10:55.

Hic!

I woke up this morning and could feel Lucy kicking. But ... it was very rhythmic and went on for a lot longer than usual.

Oh, wait! I remember this!

Lucy had hiccups!!

Emily used to have them all the time, to the point that they were kind of annoying. This was the first time Lucy had them.

******
I have been hard at work this morning getting ready for our trip. I think its kind of freaking Emily out. She's been much more clingy than usual, crying if she isn't sitting on my lap and insisting that I sit in my chair.

I turned on PBS to try to distract her. So far ... meh. Curious George is probably a little too old for her. But it's keeping me entertained!!

Oh happy day

Today, for the most part, was a very good day.

For starters, it was gorgeous outside. Sunny, warm, not too humid... perfect. Emily and I had an appointment to get our hair cut (the place I take her specializes in hair cuts for kids, but they also cut parent hair, since they have all the toys and stuff for the kiddos... fantastic idea!). My hair has been getting out of control for at least 6 months. I was so ready to get it cut, I almost didn't care what happened.

The lady who did my hair (and Emily's, but hers is easy) was wonderful. She had a bunch of suggestions on how to make my hair more manageable, especially my bangs, which have been giving me fits. Apparently I have a cowlick right in the middle of my forehead which makes half of my bangs grow weird. Grrreeaat. She cut a bunch of long layers into my hair and put a bunch of different products in it so that it is curly, but I don't look like the triangle-hair lady in Dilbert. She also took off an inch or two so that it is now above my shoulders and so much lighter. It always amazes me how much a haircut can do for my outlook on life. I always feel so much better after getting my hair done.

After the hair cut, I took Emily to my parents house while I went to another OB appointment (2 weeks goes so fast!!). My mom agreed to have Emily nap at her house so that I could get other non-toddler friendly stuff done after my appointment.

{Appointment went well. I have lost a pound, making my net pregnancy gain 17 pounds. Baby belly measuring exactly 32 cm for my 32 weeks. Lucy's heartrate was 132. All quiet on the western front.}

After my appointment, I went to Target to get some of the stuff that was used on my hair this morning and snacks for our trip to MI tomorrow.

{Did I mention that we're going to Michigan for Memorial Day? No? Well, we are. Today is my grandparents 65th wedding anniversary and we're going to have a little party for them. This is also the last weekend I am allowed to travel until Lucy arrives, so I thought it would be good to get out to see the MI family since I won't be up to traveling after she arrives. AND while we are there, I am going to meet up with Elizabeth. I am very excited about that part...}

Then I went to a thai restaurant that I love and got take out. I brought it home and pigged out. That was good stuff!

While I was home alone, I ran the vacuum, folded 4 loads of laundry, got clothes packed for our trip, folded another load of clothes for Lucy, emptied the dishwasher, and read my blogs. Just as I was finishing all that stuff, my mom called to say that Emily was awake and they were on their way out to our house.

After dinner, we all went outside and hung out. Mike was working on sweeping the grass clippings to put on the garden and Emily wandered around in the yard playing while I sat and read my magazine. We have a big English walnut tree in our backyard that made the perfect shady spot for me to park my chair. It was heaven. I'm looking forward to doing that a lot this summer.

After Emily went to bed I paid bills and wrapped Mike's brother's birthday present and in so doing, crossed almost everything off my to-do list for today. The only thing still on there is really a task for tomorrow - change the sheets on our bed. I love sleeping in fresh, clean sheets and the only thing better than that is to do that on your first night home after a trip. I love coming home to a tidy house and fresh sheets on the bed.

I hope you guys have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend. I'll catch up with everyone when I get back next week. TTFN!

Early Intervention Assessment

Emily had her Early Intervention Assessment on Wednesday.

It was pretty interesting to watch. Two nice ladies came out and sat on my living room floor for an hour, playing with Emily and peppering me with questions about what she does and does not do.

Like, does she help you get her dressed? Or, what words does she say? And, what does it sound like when she says "Amen, thank you and excuse me"? And so on.

One lady was a speech therapist and the other one was an occupational therapist (I'm guessing here, she was dealing with all the other stuff that wasn't related to speech, like social development, and small motor skills.)

The speech therapist and I did most of the talking, while the occupational therapist played with Emily and the toys that she had brought.

At the end of the assessment, they gave me a verbal report of their findings, with a written report to be sent to me in the next few weeks. The verbal assessment came out pretty much like I was expecting it to.

All of Emily's non-verbal skills (social, cognitive, small & gross motor, etc (I know I'm not using the right words, but the paperwork from the assessment is in Emily's room and she's sleeping so I can't go get it)) were found to be well within the acceptable range for her age. Like I said, not a big surprise. This feels immodest to say, but Emily is a smart little kid. We have been working on teaching her colors, like "find the crayon that is green like Oscar, black like Domino, red like Clifford", etc and she totally can. Nearly every single time. I was never worried that she had delays in areas other than her speech and the assessment confirmed that.

However, she was found to have a moderate delay in her communication skills, especially her vocabulary and pronunciation skills. But, because she can tell us what a doggie, horse, cow, duck, sheep, etc can say (imitation) and she has strong non-verbal communication skills (like the 2 signs she knows, plus the pointing, grunting and head nods and shakes) she wasn't considered to be more profoundly delayed for her age. That means that she isn't eligible for therapy right now. Crap.

The therapist recommended we retest her again after she turns 2. This is mostly because we were using standards for an 18-month-old on my 21-month-old kid. And that partly affected the outcome, because she can do 5 of the 6 things an 18-month-old "should" be able to do. However, once she turns 2, she gets a whole new list of standards to be held up against and that will raise the bar somewhat. The challenge will be getting the county to pay for testing again in 3 months instead of 6. The county tends to want to wait 6 months between tests. I'll cross that bridge when we come to it. The therapist promised that she would send some suggestions of things we can do in the meantime to help teach her how to speak when she sends the written report. So, hopefully we won't need to do battle with the county for a retest in August.

GAH! Domino just came out of the bedroom barking his fool head off at something. Of course, he ran down the hall past Emily's room (where she is SLEEPING!!!!!) barking. One of these days, dog, you are going to wake her up and I am going to be forced to gut you with a spoon! And make you into a dog-skinned rug. That won't be today, though, because by some miracle you didn't wake Emily up.

Ringless

I have reached another milestone in my pregnancy.

I had to remove my wedding rings yesterday because my finger is too fat for them.

I had to do this when I was pregnant with Emily, and I hated every minute of not wearing my wedding rings.

I felt like an unwed mother and my ring finger felt so naked. I kept panicking that I had lost my rings.

When I got home from the hospital after having Emily, the first thing I did was put my rings back on.

Less than 8 weeks to go.

Umm.... Yeah

Open letter to the "nice" old man in the waiting room at the ENT this afternoon:

Dear Sir,

I appreciate that you think my daughter is cute and thank you for the compliments on her hair and eyes. However, in the future, telling a not-quite-two-year-old that you "have one of these for her" while holding up your clenched fist, might not be quite the sentiment you are looking to express.

Creeped out-ly,

Erin

************
Emily's ENT appointment was this afternoon and it went very well. The appointment was at 1:30, which is usually a time when Emily is asleep. I decided to just keep her up until after the appointment, so we spent the morning shopping before heading to her appointment.

She was scheduled for a hearing test at 1:30 and then was set to see the ENT after that.

Her hearing test went very well, and her hearing was found to be normal.

We spent some more time in the waiting room trying not to annoy the other patients too much and then were called back to the doctor's exam room.

As we walked into the exam room, I almost cried with joy. There were toys, yes TOYS!! for Emily to play with. I have never been so happy to see kiddie things in my life. I didn't even care how germ-riddled they might be. Between being overdue for a nap and becoming more 2 every day, Emily had been pushing my patience to the outer limits while we were in the waiting room. (The fact that I'm 8 months pregnant and already short on patience didn't help matters any.) (I do have some toys for Emily in her diaper bag, but she was so not interested in playing with them.)

The ENT didn't see any fluid in her ears and said that every thing looked pretty normal right now. He agreed that her somewhat frequent ear infections (she's had about 4 since Feb 2006, but they take FOREVER to go away) could lead to a speech delay. He recommended that we keep an eye on the frequency of her infections and if they seem to be increasing, come back. He doesn't think that she needs tubes at this point and I totally agree.

I am really looking forward to the early intervention assessment on Wednesday now. I am very curious and excited to hear what the assessors have to say about my girl.

Do you ever wonder why doctors choose the specialties they do? Why would someone sign themselves up for a career of looking at people's feet, ears, butts, or vajayjays? I can understand that being an OB/Gyn would have its upside in helping babies come into the world, but there's a pretty serious downside to that one (and I'm not talking about sky-rocketing malpractice insurance rates!). I always want to ask doctors why they choose their specialty.

Car Seat Recall

I'm not sure how many of you read Plain Jane Mom, but you all totally should. Every day she creates a sampler of posts you should read called Go Read It Today. She has introduced me to many bloggers I would never have heard about otherwise.

Today, in addition to her Go Read It Today post, she had a post up about a recall involving Evenflo car seats. Apparently, the handle can break and dump the baby out on its head. Not good.

(Side note: every mom has her hot button issue. The thing that she flips out about where her kids are concerned. I have several, but my big hot button issue is cars and car seat safety. That whole thing with Consumer Reports deciding that almost all car seats don't adequately protect our kids? Yeah, totally kept me up at night. (And, yes, I know that they retracted the report and are re-testing the car seats, but it still fuh-reaked me out.) I won't let Mike teach Emily how to buckle her car seat because I don't want her to figure out how to unbuckle it and try to get out while I'm doing 70 on the Thruway. I'm pretty sure I have just exceeded the limit for a parenthetical comment. Back to the car seat recall:)

The infant carrier car seat that we used for Emily and plan to use for Lucy is an Evenflo Embrace. The same one that is affected by the recall. I ran (ok, waddled) downstairs and dragged the car seat out of storage and brought it back upstairs to compare the model number with the model number of the affected seats on this website.

Sure enough, my car seat is in the affected group.

I called the 800 number and spoke with a really nice lady who at first told me that my seat wasn't in the recall and then offered to help me verify that by looking at the handle assembly. Turns out her computer was wrong, my car seat is affected. (I figured it was, since it was manufactured in 2004 and the recall affects all seats manufactured before April 8, 2006.) Anyways, she is sending me a repair kit for the handle and warned me not to use the handle until I get the repair kit installed. No worries there.

I am doubly glad that I had to pull the car seat out of storage because not only is the handle susceptible to breaking, but I discovered that the straps are covered in mold. ICK!! *shudder* Yuck.

Our basement isn't the driest and so those little molds have been having a field day down there, growing all over the straps. I had the nice recall lady transfer me to the regular Evenflo call center and ordered myself (well, Lucy) a new harness assembly. There is no way I'm going to try to clean those. Gag.

But, can you imagine the freak out I would have had if I had waited to get the car seat out of storage until late June or early July like I'd been planning? It wouldn't have been pretty.

*******
I had an OB appointment this morning. Mike met me at the office and he and Emily hung out with me during my check up. Then we went to Perkins and had an early (like 10:30 am) lunch.

My appointment went well. I gained another 5 pounds. That seems like a lot to me, but the doctor didn't say anything, so I'm not worrying too much.

My belly was measuring barely 27 cm today. It normally should be about 1 cm for each week of pregnancy. I'm almost 32 weeks, so my belly should be about 32 cm. It appears that Lucy is head down, but laying in a sort of pike position. Her butt is on my right side and her feet are stretched out towards my left side. I guess she would look like this: >. Anyways, the doctor and I pushed at her a little to try to shift her and measured again and then I was 29 cm. Still small, but the doctor wasn't worried. She said last time I was measuring 2 weeks ahead because Lucy was reaching for the sky.

I'm boring myself with this stuff, so I am going to quit for now and let you go read something more interesting.

"A Post"

I have to confess that I am a bit of a grammar nazi. I am easily irritated by well-meaning (or not) people butchering the written and spoken word. I haven't done a drive-by edit of a posted sign, but I have been sorely tempted.

I am by no means perfect when it comes to writing and speaking English, but I certainly try to adhere to the basics.

The following is a short list of the things that really get my undies in a bunch, grammatically-speaking.

• Enclosing "random" words in quotes. This really gets me when it is displayed on a sign advertising a business. It makes two businesses look dumb; the one that is being advertised and the one that made the sign.
• Incorrect placement of apostrophe's. Julia has a funny post about this here.
  
• Using the wrong form of they're, there or their, and to, two or too.
  
• The word "irregardless". It is considered "nonstandard" because of the two negatives (ir- and -less), according to dictionary.com. My manager used to say this all the time and it not only drove me up a wall, it also made her sound like an idiot.
  
• Snuck. The past-tense of sneak is sneaked, not snuck. However, I will confess that snuck sneaks out of my mouth on occasion.
  
• Orientated. The past-tense of orient is oriented.
  

Now that I have exposed myself as a total grammar snob, what are your grammar pet peeves? What? You don't have any? It's just me?

Erin needs....

I've seen this meme in a couple of blogs today and it cracks me up. It's really simple. You go to a search engine and type your name and the word "needs" (i.e., "Erin needs") without quotes. Start the search and then sit back and check out what you "need".

I need:

• Another miracle
• a drink (that would be nice. Mike finished the iced tea last night and didn't start another jug brewing, so I've had to make do with orange Kool-Aid)
  
• to go to bed
• to concentrate on her surf lines and understand that one Phil Collins is enough (???)
  
• volunteers
• an exorcism
• to be naked too (I'm 7.5 months pregnant. I try to be naked as little as possible.)
  
• Paul more than he needs her
  
• his Lordship, a martial artist apprentice
• a life
• some sleep
• money for her parents
• to study for a test
• needs know how to act like a tour guide when she's just getting her bearings herself
• a bodyguard (really? is there something I should know?)
  
• to take a deep breath
• to get approval for a class field trip to the Holocaust Museum
• to confirm

Because I think this is such a hoot, I did it for Mike & Emily, too.

Mike needs:

• a date (oh no, he doesn't!)
  
• your help in identifying a movie
• a handicapped-equipped van
• work done
• a job
• help
• a new team
• a laptop (he already has one. he only has one lap...)
  
• a general wash in the middle
• a small area to perform
• to go
• a life
• a light-Razoring
• a girlfriend (no, really, he doesn't. he's got his hands full dealing with his WIFE!)
  
• to start over now

And Emily needs:

• to be told "No, there are certain things that are just NOT allowed" (like hitting the dog?)
  
• to def get some party favors (I'm not sure I know what this means)
  
• to go shopping for clothes
• saving
• more storylines
• a new computer
• more pain relief (why? haven't her ear infection(s) cleared up?)
  
• some anger management therapy
• aesthetics
• to learn how to deal (this is very true. she is more 2 every day)
  
• work on reading a little extra every night (let's work on peeing in the potty first, mkay?)
  
• to be saved
• to be told no & to be whipped into shape by Nanny911 (I don't THINK so!)
  
• background
• to talk to him
• to write the way most people need to breathe (maybe, if by writing they mean coloring)
  
• a new love

Good Mom

I have been reading Girls Gone Child for several months now. I find Becca's take on motherhood different from and similar to mine all at the same time. Her writing is incredible. She has, on many occasions, expressed exactly what I am thinking or feeling, but couldn't get out in a way that made sense. Her son, Archer, is a few months older than Emily, so I get a sneak peak at what awaits me.

Yesterday, Becca's post spoke about her strengths as a mom. Her point, and I totally agree, is that we are way too hard on ourselves as parents. We are first to self-criticize and last to look at our kids and say "Wow! I rock!" So she is challenging us to write a post (or a comment) about how we are good.

So here goes.

I am a good mom.

In fact, I would even go so far as to say that I am a great mom.

I do all (well, a lot of) the things that you are "supposed" to do as a parent.

Emily always has clean clothes, clean diapers, toys to play with and good food to eat. And sometimes she gets "bad" food: french fries, cookies, chocolate.

I hug and kiss Emily at every opportunity. I tell her "I love you" countless times a day.

Everytime we get into the car, Emily is buckled tightly into her car seat.

She receives regular medical checkups and I have a good relationship with her doctor.

She has a basket of books that I can barely lift.

I have given over the majority of my living room to her toys and I let her spread them throughout the house every day.

I also make her help me pick them up each night before bed.

Juice is a special treat in our house. When she's not drinking milk, she's drinking water.

TV is another special treat; Elmo is oft requested, but rarely shown.

Despite evidence to the contrary, our house has been thoroughly baby-proofed. But I also understand the need for a child to be able to explore and learn cause and effect. Stand too close to the edge of the couch? You're going to fall. And then Mommy will pick you up and comfort you.

Emily has had rules to follow since she was at least 6 months old. Her first rule was "stay off the hearth". As she grew older, not following those rules leads to consequences, usually time out.

In addition to the things I "should" do, I trust my instincts. Mike told me recently that he said to his mom that he thought I was a bit of a hypochondriac on Emily's behalf, forever running her to the doctor when he felt there was little cause. Mike's mom's reply? "Yes, but most of the time, she's right." (Thanks, Mom R! What a boost that was!)

And, yesterday, after Emily fell down the stairs, I stopped the self-doubt soundtrack that was running through my head. It was an accident. Plain and simple. As much as I want to curl up in a corner with Emily in my arms and never let her be hurt again, I know that can't happen. I understand that Emily is going to fall, both literally and figuratively. I can't prevent those falls. But I can be right there when she lands to pick her up.

This is my job. And I love it. I think I am doing a pretty good job of it, too. I never thought I would like this Mom gig as much as I do.

However, this job is seriously hard. It is 24/7/365. I don't get sick days or holidays. Even when I am sick, I am still a mom. My husband can help out when I'm not up to the task, but at the end of the day, I am still the Mommy. (We have a running joke that I am Emily's favorite and I will be Lucy's favorite, but Mike is Domino's favorite. The kid(s) like me best, but he's still got the dog!) When I am at the end of my rope, I am not afraid to take time out for me. Actually, I usually don't wait until I am at the end of my rope. I try to regularly make time for me and for my marriage.

So, I am a good mom. I really like being a mom. And I can't wait to do this all again.

(If you want to do this, too, just write a post and give the link to Becca in her comments.)

****
PS: Thank you all for your wonderful comments after yesterday's post. Emily seems to have come out of the whole experience completely unscathed. I think she cried from the shock of "I was walking and now I'm at the bottom of the stairs" than from any pain or injury. I have examined every inch of that child and I cannot find any (new) bumps, scratches, or bruises. If I had fallen down the stairs like that, I would be in traction. Kids really are made of rubber.

Press 9

Emily fell down the stairs this morning.

Our solid wood, with a concrete floor at the bottom, stairs.

This has been my number 1 biggest Mom terror since she started moving independently. And it happened this morning.

We were on our way to the garage (which is at the top of the stairs) to go shopping before the MOMS Club meeting. Emily tripped on the cord to the dustbuster, pitched forward and was on her way down the stairs before I could even react.

I was less than 2 feet away, but it wasn't close enough.

I can't forget the sight of her little body rolling and tumbling down the stairs and then landing (not on her head, thank God) on that hard hard concrete.

I don't remember going down the stairs to pick her up. I just remember getting there milliseconds after she landed and scooping her up in my arms. The next thing I know I am back upstairs trying to comfort her while shaking and crying myself and trying to check her for injuries.

When you call our pediatrician's office, there is an automated answering system. The first prompt is "If this is a medical emergency and you cannot wait for a nurse, press 9." I have never had to press 9 before today, but I did it this morning with shaking fingers and a screaming baby in my arms. I have yet another reason to love our pediatrician's office. Someone answered right away and a nurse got right on the phone.

She asked me a bunch of questions, about the stairs, how many, what type (wood or carpet), how Emily went down them (head first or feet first), did she hit her head, lose consciousness, does she have any cuts, head bumps, etc. She was so calm that I slowly started to calm down myself. Especially as I kept answering no. I set her down to see if she could walk and she immediately went over to where I keep her play food and asked me to get it down for her (in Emily-ese: pointing and grunting at the box).

Clearly, I am the one most upset by this. I have been on the verge of tears all morning.

The nurse said I didn't need to bring her in, but I shouldn't let her sleep more than 2 hours today during her nap and we need to wake her up 4 hours after she goes to sleep tonight and tomorrow night. (I am so not looking forward to that.)

I keep replaying the fall and the lead-up to it in my head. What could I have done differently? How can I make sure this never, ever happens again?

We don't have a gate at the top of the stairs because they are off the kitchen, and Emily isn't allowed in the kitchen without supervision (and usually not even then). I'm going to tack the cord to the dustbuster down, so that it isn't a tripping hazard, but I don't know what else to do. She's getting too big (and too independent) to carry out to the car every time, and the door to the garage is at the top of the stairs.

And every few minutes, I see her falling again. And it takes all my will power not to grab her in my arms, squeeze her tight and not let go.

She's OK, thank God, she's OK.