7 Quick Takes Friday, #24

1. This is Lauren. LJ.


Lauren loves lunchtime. Also breakfast, dinner, and snacktime.



She gets so excited at the prospect of food (either consuming or throwing - no matter) that she claps and sways even while strapped into her chair.



What a little darlin' huh? I wish every member of my family was as enthusiastic over my cooking as she is.



2. Lauren is also still a very happy nurser, unless there are other things going on in the room, in which case she drops me like I'm hot. For example, it's usually just her and I first thing in the morning; Mia is still sleeping, Justin's getting ready for work, so we have some quiet snuggle/nursing time in the living room just to ourselves.

Except for when Mia wakes up early. On those days, Lauren just can NOT concentrate on the task at hand - Mia commands attention (understatement alert!). So, rather than try to wrestle with Lauren while she'd rather run around with her sissy, I've started asking Mia to go snuggle on mommy and daddy's bed for a few minutes until LJ's finished. When she asks why, I tell her that she sometimes distracts LJ, who won't eat her breakfast unless we're alone. Mia usually scampers off, happy for a reason to play on the big pillows in my bed.

This morning, however, Mia started playing with some pretty involved toys at the kitchen table before I'd even gotten Lauren ready for her 'mowk' (I love baby pronunciations; milk becomes something meowish.). I told Mia that I needed to nurse LJ, and had just about gotten to the part where I send her to the bedroom, when Mia spoke up.

"You guys need to go in the bedroom, because I'm playing, and Lauren will distra-CK-TA me, OK? I'll see you in just a few minutes, mom."

Off I scampered to the bedroom, just following my orders.



3. Want to make teeth care fun? Pop the child on her daddy's shoulders in front of the sink, and joke about whether or not he'll come away without toothpaste slobber in his hair. Loads of fun, I tell you.

Then when it's time to floss she gets to fall backwards, 'Trust' style, into mama's waiting arms, while daddy tries very hard to focus the camera on anything other than toothpaste splatters on the mirror.




4. Last night was Mia's 2nd VBS program. I blogged about her first VBS program a few weeks ago, and this one differed only in a few ways.

a) This one had about 90 more children than the 12 or so in her first VBS. And that was in the preschool section alone; the entire group of kids was exponentially greater - a vast sea of children. I've never seen a VBS this big before, not that I've seen very many...but man it was huge.

b) I had no video camera, because I knew I'd be so far away in the back of the church that I'd be unlikely to get any good footage. Also, last time as soon as she saw the camera, any rehearsed singing or movement went out the window and she was just hamming it up in her own way.

Just like last time, she sang not a single word of the program, and danced not a single movement unless you count her turning around to stare at the crowd of kids behind her. Which she did for about half of the show. And she had wandered from her own group of orange-shirted cuties to stand directly in the middle front of the entire group, sticking out like a sore thumb among the green shirted class.



Maybe she just wanted all eyes on her. To which the wall-flower in me shouts ABSURD! But to each her own, I suppose, right?




5. I finished reading the first Mitford book, and it was...calmly enjoyable. Soothing almost. Very comfortable. So much so that it took me For Ev Er to finish it. There was just no sense of urgency surrounding it, which really fit well with most of life in Mitford anyway. I'd like to read the rest of the series, but I have a habit of wanting to take a break in between books in a series, not wanting to tempt boredom. So I'll wait awhile before I start the next one.

I started reading The Princess Bride instead. Since it's also on several 'favorite book ever' lists, I picked it up at the library, hoping to be entertained. And so far? I am way entertained. Urgently entertained. No lull of peaceful Mitford life here, that's for sure. I can't wait to see what happens next.



6. In gardening news, I am proud to say I've harvested my first carrot. I just wanted to see how they were coming - patience is not a virtue of mine - so I yanked one up that looked promising, and I was pleasantly surprised. (I may have done a funky little carrot dance in the backyard. However unlikely that may seem.)



It was small, yes, but straight and perfectly formed, so I threw caution to the wind and pulled up another set of greens. This time, though, the results were...



Not so exciting. More puny and sad than exciting. I stopped pulling and told myself that's what you get for rushing the process. When in actuality, I have no idea how long the process is supposed to take. And I can't remember the exact date I planted the seeds so I can't even count the days for a jumping off point (I think I blogged about it though...there's an idea). I figure I'll just keep popping one or two up every so often to see where we stand.



7. Expecting to be praised for my carrot growing skills, I proudly told Justin to look in the kitchen for a surprise.

"Where at babe?" he asked, "There's nothing in here."

"On the counter by the stove. Between the sink and stovetop. Behind those green beans I picked today," I directed. "Do you see it?" I was so excited about my real, live carrots - I couldn't wait for his reaction.

Justin was silent.

Until he laughed.

He was bent over double, then flayed out backwards, rocking with laughter at my carrots.

Until he saw my indignation.

"Oh, uh, I mean, was that the kind of carrots you were hoping to grow?" he sputtered.

"Yes," I said, "that big one is perfect! The little one may have been too close to the edge, but the big one? It's so straight - you don't think that's cool? I was half expecting to pull up some knobby mess of malformed roots since the soil had so many rocks."

But it was no use. Justin couldn't help laughing again. My poor little carrots.



I should have told him that the bigger one is about the same size as my MIDDLE FINGER. But somehow I only think that would have made him laugh harder.



Click on over to Conversion Diary for many more Quick Takes, and enjoy your weekend!